Reviews

This dorama here, will be the funniest thing you'll ever watch ......ok, if that's a little too much than still be sure that it will be there for a while and if not, go see a doctor.

This bizarre yet smart, over the top yet minimalist comedy has achieved what very few dramas can, it's cast enjoyed the show more than the audience and one can easily tell. There are scenes with the Konbini manager where the rest of the cast literally fights to hold off their laughter; oh how I wish I could watch the behind the scene footage (speakng of that, if anyone has any clue where to, pm me onegaishimasu!).

I didn't know any of the cast beforehand and that's sad, because I can never take them seriously ever. If you have nothing better to do (Heck! If you had, would you be wasting time here reading this?!), go watch this drama and remember,

'God is dead (Kamisama......shinda),
- Nii kun

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don't cry, craft

i'm not sure how to correctly describe this drama or if there is a right way to perfectly capture words that sums up this drama because there isn't...

this drama almost feels like a kaleidoscopic view from a newborn witnessing different walks of life and circumstances. in other words, the different stories of the deceased and main characters geu ru, jeongu and songu... they all remind the viewers of what it's like to be human in an almost raw way (even taking in real life events).

one thing i can say is this almost felt impossible to binge because of the emotional impact most of the stories had on me. perhaps the situations the characters had are so similar to real life that it ignites heavy emotions. if anything, i'd crown this as the biggest tear jerker this year so far.

overall, this drama paints different stories and portrays various point of views and delivers great emotions. this drama's title should probably be changed into "move to tears" because *sobs*

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I love this drama so much!

Story: It's similar to another drama, but I won't tell what the name of that drama is because you either know already & seen it or not seen it or have heard of it but want to watch that drama too. But I can tell you it's a little more darker & the writers make the plot their own later down the line. The plot was entertaining from beginning to end!

Acting/Cast: Ji Sung was awesome in this drama! Hwang Jung Eum was amazing as well. I didn't watch a lot of their dramas, but I was so surprised by their acting here. They have amazing chemistry! Bae Soo Bin was amazing in his role as the villian! I hated his character more here than in 49 Days(I won't spoil his character for you if you want to watch that drama yourself). I love the side characters(the main guy's secretary(guy) & the main girl's friends) so much!

Music: It was very beautiful especially "Tears Stole my Heart" by Alee & "Incurable Disease" by Navi ft. Kabee.

Rewatch value: I won't watch this often becuase I cried so much in this drama. But I would we watch this for the side characters & the character development from each character

Overall I give this a ten because this was a lovely drama.

It's for people who love melodrama, romance, comedy(believe me, there are some there) & love character development(there is a lot). It also for people who are fans of the main actors/actress(Ji Sung, Hwang Jung Eum, Bae Soo Bin & Lee Da Hee or other actors/actress).

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A Fleeting Tale Of Young Love Underneath The Cherry Blossoms…

There’s a particular Japanese idiom which comes to mind when talking about the concept of ‘ Yoshihiro Fukagawa’s ‘Love like the Falling Petals’ and that is simply “ Mono No Aware” (“物の哀れ”)- “ The pathos of things, the sensitivity of things which are transient”. At the root core of this idiomatic expression comes to mind with the imagery of fleeting beauty, and none so more than the blossoming and ephemeral period of the Sakura ( cherry blossom) during spring in Japan. Indeed, the symbolic imagery of the Sakura blossom in ‘Love like the Falling Petals ‘ is supposed to represent the beating heart of the narrative. Melancholic and bittersweet in parts, ‘ Love Like the Falling Petals’ is a film which while helping to capture the unpredictable transience of the seasons and young love, could often feel just as fleeting as the cherry blossom.

The film is based upon Uyama Keisuke’s novel "My Lover, Like Cherry Blossoms" (“桜のような僕の恋人”). Adapted to the silver screen by screenwriters Tomoko Yoshida (‘The Liar and His Lover’, ‘Blue Spring Ride’ and ‘Gakkou no Kaidan’) and Uyama Keisuke (‘Switch Girl!!’, ‘Nobunaga Concerto’ and ‘Tonight, At Romance Theater’), the narrative predominantly focuses upon main male lead Haruto Asakura ( Nakajima Kento- ‘Koishite Akuma’, ‘Bad Boys J’ and ‘Nisekoi’). An aspiring photographer with low self-esteem, Haruto falls head over heels in love during a fateful encounter with bubbly hair stylist Ariake Misaki(Honoka Matsumoto- ‘Mio On the Shore’, ‘My Name Is Yours’ and ‘Byoshitsu de Nembutsu o Tonaenaide Kudasai’).

However just as Haruto starts to gain confidence in order to pursue his lifelong ambitions in order to become a photographer, Misaki begins to develop a rare disease that causes her to age rapidly before the falling of next spring’s cherry blossom.
As mentioned previously, ‘Love like the Falling Petals’ attempted to offer its audience with a somewhat sombre reflection of the futility of contingency as well as young love. The initial tone set for the movie is established as somewhat bubbly and sprightly rom-com . ( As established with Haruto and Misaki’s unconventional ‘’meet cute’’ after Misaki accidentally cuts Haruto’s ear with a pair of scissors.)

However as the plot begins to be set in motion with Misaki’s evident dilemma, ‘Love like the Falling Petals’ turns into a sentimental sob story, occasionally dipping into a melodramatic tone also. In addition to our main leads there is also a subplot revolving around Misaki’s brother, Ariake Takashi (Nagayama Kento- ‘Puzzle’, ‘Crows Explode’ and ‘Toge: The Last Samurai’) and his fiancée Yoshino Ayano ( Sakurai Yuki-‘ Love Craft Girl’, ‘A Crimson Star’ and ‘The Night Beyond The Tricornered Window’) attempting to take on the financial burden of Misaki’s circumstances.

Nevertheless despite the attempts for the series to lament over the sorrows of time and existence, the narrative for ‘Love like the Falling Petals’ could often feel discombobulated with its messaging. Of course, while the movie did possess an intrinsic message and an arguable social critique surrounding the financial and emotional burdens of the elderly in Japanese society, these messages could often feel as though they were only approached on a surface-level. This was mainly due to the fact that ‘Love like the Falling Petals’ would often only brief skim over details in a bombastic manner (such as the limited screen time given to the subplot revolving around Misaki’s brother), rarely delving deeper in order to avoid offence.

Kento Nakajima starred as main lead Haruto by adding a reserved yet somewhat blatant charm to his onscreen persona. Co-starring alongside Nakajima was Honoka Matsumoto as Ariake Misaki. Despite Matsumoto’s brilliance as an actress, her performance as Misaki could feel somewhat overblown at times with overexaggerated line deliverances and reactions. Nevertheless, Matsumoto did help to add a tethered charm to Misaki in later scenes of the movie as she falls deeper into a cycle of senescence.

Nakajima and Matsumoto’s onscreen chemistry is decent enough. Matsumoto and Nakajima’s onscreen interactions could feel somewhat childish and stilted at times in the opening of the movie. However by the second-half of ‘Love Like the Falling Petals’, the main leads’ onscreen chemistry turns angst-ridden and woeful, adding a bittersweet as well as an overemotional tone by the ending of the film.

The trajectory of ‘Love Like the Falling Petals’ can arguably be divided into two parts. In the first-half of the film, the narrative takes a lively and pacy approach to Haruto and Misaki’s coup de foudre, while the second-half downplayed events in order to focus on a more serious matter of Haruto and Misaki’s attempting to overcome complicated relationship and problems.
Admittedly this did provide to be a double-edged sword for ‘Love Like the Falling Petals’; the first-half allowing opportunities for viewers to understand the liveliness of Haruto and Misaki’s early courtship, while helping to present the climatic problems of the final part. On the other hand rather than allowing opportunities to delve further into the emotional edge of the characters or their personal backgrounds, Misaki and Haruto’s depth as characters could feel somewhat limited. For example this was particularly shown through the problem of Haruto. His precise reasons for becoming a photographer were limited and unexplored, while the emotional toil for Misaki and her illness were often enforced rather than explored subtly.

In addition to the pacing of the film, it is important to acknowledge the talents of the directing under the leadership of Yoshihiro Fukagawa. Slick and glossy, Fukagawa’s filming encapsulated an onslaught of aesthetic symbols and scenery. In particular, Fukugawa placed heavy emphasis upon the changing of the seasons from the falling cherry blossoms of spring, to the first snowfall of winter in order to mark the literal and metaphorical cycle of the narrative. On the other hand despite some mesmeric moments of the film, the CGI displayed in the opening as well as long-distance shots at times could feel somewhat sloppy at times.

‘ Love Like the Falling Petals’ is a bittersweet love story about transience and young love. Nevertheless despite the movie’s impressive shots and cast line-up, the narrative could often become just as fleeting as the cherry blossom with limited writing cliches, pacing and execution.

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This drama was epic! The timeline, characters, locations, sets, costumes, special effects, everything. Myth, legend and history rolled up into one awesome package. Clearly, this drama had a huge budget. The main thread of the story is to get the prehistoric mythology of the origins of Korea to line up in the end with the historical figure of Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo. To do this requires much help from supernatural forces, most especially from the Four Gods from Heaven said to reanimate for the true Joo Shin King. Fine, just go along for the ride. If you want a big romantic payoff in the end and that’s the reason you’re watching, then you’ll most likely be disappointed. There will be no sullying the purity of historical figures, thank you very much. You’ll recognize many veteran actors, as well as newer faces (in 2007), so the performances were, of course, superb. The story had enough characters of all types to allow for lighter moments and comedy as well. The leader of the Hwacheon Clan was very entertaining to watch, nearly stealing every scene he was in. I believe this compelling drama is a must-see.

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A (very) funny and exciting journey into Dong Jae's story

I simply loved it, from beginning to end!

Dong Jae is the kind of character that captured our hearts; it's impossible to hate him, and that's how he went from a supporting character in "Stranger" to the main character in this spin-off.

If you liked "Stranger" and plan to watch this drama, keep one thing in mind: the style is completely different. THIS IS NOT "Stranger" season 3, nor is it intended to be; is's a spin-off from a very different character. Here, the cases are neither important nor mysterious, and everything revolves around the discussion that the name of the drama itself brings up: is Dong Jae, after all, good or bad?

The drama was much lighter to watch than "Stranger", and has many comedic elements; even though I'm not a big fan of comedies and prefer thriller dramas, I still loved it and had a lot of fun with Dong Jae's adventures - his inner monologues are the best!

And here comes the spoiler:

******

I loved the ending!!
I would have been a little disappointed if Dong Jae had left the Prosecutor's Office and become a lawyer, which I thought might happen after SDJ and KWC met.

However, the ending surprised me positively: Dong Jae was finally punished for his actions. Although I would still like to see him as a prosecutor, the idea of ​​a "team" of corrupt people to hunt down more corrupt people was simply brilliant. And it's SDJ's chance to redeem himself for his mistakes from the past.

I would love a sequel (whether it's a 2nd season of SDJ or a 3rd of "Stranger"), and the ending left the stage ready for that.

About the cast:
Lee Jun Hyuk is simply perfect as Seo Dong Jae, once again.
And I loved the characters of Jung Woon Sun and Baek Sun Ho.

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Well now that Strawberry Night has finished it's run, I can give my full review of the series, and boy let me tell you it was a good run!

As I stated in my comment below, outstanding job by Takeuchi Yuko playing "Himekawa Reiko", but the team as a whole I liked as well. I loved the slight character development we see with the supporting roles, especially "Kukita","Nori" and the last episode's bad guy, showing that writing and directing put in a great deal of thought when fleshing out their cops, as well as the criminals to the ongoing cases.

Directing was very well done, unlike past Japan cop dramas which could get really wonky some times. Think Boss (more wacky than needed but still an entertaining show) and Jiu (the lack of common sense in that drama, coupled with bad music choices).

We actually had a very good balance of comedy and drama and didn't lose sight that this is a 'cop drama'. More often than not, some of them tend to loose sight of the occupational part of the drama and start focusing on character relationships, and not in a good way.

With Strawberry Night we get a good look at the psychological and moral sides of the cops in which the main character and the supporting characters alike are included. More than 'who dun it' dramas we are given 'why' and the varied procedures that lead to that why which makes this an interesting pick to watch.

So to conclude, it may not be 'on the edge of your seat' action, but it most definitely won't keep you bored.

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I am an huge fan of chinese produce shows. I've pretty much watched them all, so I have a solid idea of how they work. If I had to be honest, Chuang 2020 was a huge letdown. Don't get me wrong, the trainees are talented and production is great, but the show REALLY could've been better.

If you are new to chinese produce shows, let me explain to you first the gist of things. If you're not, skip this paragraph LOL. So basically, these shows invite around a 100 trainees from different companies and make them compete to debut into the final lineup. The final lineup usually ranges from 7 spots to 11 spots depending on the show. For Chuang 2020, they narrowed it down to only seven debut spots. At the very start of the show, each of the trainees first have to go through a evaluation by the show judges. (in this case were Victoria, Tao, Luhan, and Mao Buyi.) Then they go through a theme song evaluation, where each trainee is given the same amount to time to learn the lyrics and dance to that certain theme song. As the show progresses, the trainees split into many different groups to perform on evaluation stages with an audience. These stages allow the trainees to showcase their capability as an idol and the audience get to vote for their favorite picks. HOWEVER audience vote does not determine final rankings. The final rankings are actually determined by online fan voting, and the audience vote only give bonus votes in addition to that online fan voting. After each evaluation stage, trainees get eliminated based on their vote rankings. Eventually, trainees are narrowed down to top 15 and there is a show finale where those 15 trainees give a final performance to a live audience. The final debut lineup is also announced in the show finale.

Okay time to give the actual review on my thoughts on Chuang 2020 by listing the pros and cons:

Pros:

1. Production quality was very high.
Tencent is LOADED. The trainees in Chuang 2020 literally lived like princesses. The entire living complex was a castle design, and the trainees took buses to the practice rooms?? Living that dream. Their stages were very well decorated too, everything just looked expensive. Tencent really put a lot a money into the show and trainees.

2. Power vocals everywhere.
Chuang 2020 has sooo many power vocal trainees. The amount of good singers in the show were insane, props to Tencent for finding them.

3. Episodes were long, so there was a lot of content.
This could be a pro or con depending on the viewer, but each Chuang 2020 episode was around 6 hours long. Tencent gave a lottt of content. It was pretty nice watching the many different trainee interactions, but it did occasionally get draggy.

Cons:

1. The environment was extremely toxic.
I understand that it was a competition to make it into the debut lineup but these girls WERE NOT messing around. It got to the point where you could sense the tension as a VIEWER. I do have to admit that the judges played a part in creating that tension, but even so, I did not sign up to watch a bunch of girls be passive aggressive with each other??

2. Screentime was 100% biased.
I've never seen such bad screentime on a chinese produce show. It got so bad that the CENTER for the theme song had almost zero shots in the last few episodes. Instead, there were a couple of select trainees who got an excessive amount of screentime, making the Chuang 2020 look like [blank] and friends. :/

3. Performances did not stand out.
This is slightly biased since its my own opinion, but none of the performances stuck with me. I'm not saying the trainees weren't talented, they were more than a few power vocals and dancers. I'm not sure what was missing because the quality of the production was perfectly fine; there was just something about the performances themselves. And don't get me started on the last stages with the male celebrities, it was so awkward to watch because (almost) all the guys literally just stood there and looked cute. I know its a Produce Camp tradition but I still can't help but cringe when I watch them.

Now, I'm not discouraging ANYONE from watching the show. Please go ahead, there are so many talented trainees. I tried to be as unbiased as possible when writing this review, and hope future viewers will find it helpful!

I do recommend everyone try watching the first episode before deciding whether you like the show or not. As for exo-ls, there is a Luhan, Tao, and Kris interaction if you're interested ;)

ps. this is my first review, hope i wrote it well enough !!

Thank you for reading and hope you have an amazing day ♡

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Truly Disappointed WITH THIS MESSY DRAMA

I generally don't write review, I couldn't stop my anger when I watched this drama for its ratings.

I have watched over 100 dramas, never seen such a bad emperor, he clearly knew the situation in the palace, he will not order for investigation at all.

This drama shows what happens to royal

family when a mindless person sits on throne. Atleast the king should select good ruler from his sons, he is always obsessed with crowe prince who is not worthy of ruling at all.

Everyone knew who is the betrayer yet they just go with the flow and suffer from crisis...bad story..I am very disappointed to watch it believing the reviews.

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Imaginary Cat - I can’t fathom who thought of this show, because it is a BRILLIANT idea. A talking sassy cat who loves and cares for her human? Yes please.

If you go into this show having great expectations just because Yoo Seung Ho picked it, don’t. The show isn’t meant to be absolutely fantastic or great. It’s a down-to-earth and humble drama with a simple story. I always looked forward to watching a new episode of this show because it wasn’t too heavy or required a lot of commitment into the characters. The characters are written very simply, without excessive or comprehensive backstories.

I really enjoyed the personification of the cat. For starters, the cat is adorable. The voiceover for the cat is really cute. The central relationship is between Yoo Seung Ho’s character and the cat, and I love that the show never lost sight of that.

Yoo Seung Ho is evidently the star of the show, not just because he plays the lead character, It’s also pretty clear in terms of acting ability. But that’s really fine. It didn’t ruin the show for me in any way. There isn't much to comment on in respect of the acting of the rest of the cast in the show.

Overall, a great choice for a light and brief watch. After you finish the show it won’t linger on your memory much, except for the fact that you may love cats afterwards.

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This was an average show with many many plot twists, bad music, bad acting and extremely unrealistic storytelling. But still, there was something that gave me the feels. I can say I enjoyed the mess. I often watched this show while cooking or doing something else, all important moments got repeated countless times so even if you miss a few episodes you won't miss anything.

If you can get past the woman hating in the beginning you will be awarded in the end. Good wins and bad gets to learn the lesson + a chance to redeem itself. No matter how I hated the baddies they were often the most interesting to watch and they were the ones who drove the plot forward. But God did I hate them, they made my blood boil and one of the reasons why I finished this drama was to see them suffer. The show gets boring at some point but there is always something refreshing happening all the time, never mind it's unrealistic and stupid. Just don't take this show too seriously.

Even though there was enough time to tie all loose ends some things were not explained properly. Anyway, the ending was decent no less. Personally I was a bit disappointed with the pairing, probably I am the only one who wished Hana to end up with that other guy.

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What's so good about being normal?

"Unless it's something bad, it's better to be weird than ordinary"

To write a review on the School Nurse files is to imply I have somehow grasped what the School Nurse files is all about. The show's glorious acid trip weirdness defies analysis and yet feels deliberate. After all - as our male lead says as we head into the plot's explosive denouement - "it's better to be weird than ordinary". And the School Nurse Files definitely walks its own talk.

At a Korean highschool where the kids recite cult-like verses on happiness every morning, an emotional whale floats overhead and ducks follow the leader through the school randomly. The children *appear* happy, according to our school nurse, Ahn Eun-young (Jung Yoo-mi). But when it comes to life - and especially to adolescence - it's what's under the surface that matters more.

Since birth Eun-young has seen 'jellies', a kind of supernatural human residue that grows and forms into different shapes. Armed with a toy gun and rainbow toy sword she fights the jellies that have grown so big as to be a threat to the humans around them. In this she is aided by Hong In-pyo (a Nam Joo-hyuk who is finally living up to his potential), the grandson of the school's founder who has a disability following a motorcycle accident when he was young. In-Pyo has a powerful aura that acts as a supernatural shield and Ahn Eun-young is able to recharge by holding his hand.

But this school is no ordinary school, it was built on a pond of emotional residue that a cult hopes to harness for its own advantage.

The School Nurse Files is a crazy ride of symbolism and metaphor and I'm not sure to what extent we're supposed to take it literally. But the show is unconventional and original and flat out weird. A celebration of weird where everyone is encouraged to let their freak flag fly. The show's aesthetic leans deliberately away from kdrama gloss. The kids have acne. The adults look real. Nam Joo-hyuk's model looks and height are transformed into a gawky, clumsy awkwardness that is 1000 times sexier than the usual sanitised gloss..

The only reason it's a 9 - and the only real issue I took with it - is that it's packed into six episodes like a pocket rocket ready to explode and it really needed at least one or two extra episodes to make the whole thing feel less rushed. But in the final estimation that's not a huge problem. I'll happily take another season - hell another three seasons - if I can see Eun-young fight evil while holding her adorable boyfriend's hand.

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casually sweet

In all, the storyline and characters are ok. Cute, kind and honest FL off the streets caught by her father the Prime Minister, and suspicious handsome ML hunted down after the war with every reason not to trust her.
It’s not too silly or ridiculous, but it’s not too dark and ‘martial arts-y’. It’s sweet — maybe not the best, but I enjoyed the music. My favorite character would probably be Prince Jin’s guard Nan Bo.
Anyways, It’s worth the watch if you’re looking for a relaxing and casual drama, not too spectacular but not too boring, while you’re waiting for a highly-anticipated new drama to come out. (I highly recommend the 2023 hit drama ‘Mysterious Lotus Casebook’ starring Cheng Yi and Joseph Zeng, if you haven’t yet seen it :)

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