My Engineer is the new SOTUS ripoff we never needed. Senior engineering student Bohn (a much less green Cooper in his first lead since My Bromance) bullies freshman medical student, Duen (Poy) by making him bring him a rose every day. The couple fall for each other and embark on a relationship that is half weirdly sexless, half abusive.
As well as Duen being exceedingly weird about any kind of skinship to the point where it's uncomfortable, Bohn freaks out almost every episode at Duen even talking to another man and then gaslights him into apologising when he's in the wrong. Think Until We Meet Again meets 2 Moons. Yes it's that weird. If Duen isn't freaking out because his boyfriend wants to spend time with him alone, Bohn is freaking out because Duen interacts with other people. Duen responds to all of this with a weird vacant smile that makes you wonder if he's mentally deficient in some way.
Of course all their close group of friends are also secretly gay and we end up with a number of other romances between them. The best of these is RamKing (Perth and Lay), whose relationship is almost worth tuning in for. The worst of these is BossMek, where Ryan's character Mek eventually gets his straight friend, Boss (Inntouch) by aggressively Nice Guying him in a way that feels coercive.
The show is predictable, generic and derivative. It has almost no plot and is written to a standard BL formula. For me at least that formula is tired. If you wanted to fast forward entirely to the RamKing scenes, you wouldn't be missing anything. Or just skip it completely.
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A story full of love-hate and a never ending mess
I love Republican Era settings and this even has Jing Tian, only the sight of Jing Tian dressed up in that style was enough to get me on for this.Talking about the plot, the overall conspiracy stuff is a mixture. Their is a revenge story going on but they also want to show the viewers about Opium consumption and it's ill effects on health and life… All the ways to trick each other are mainly related to Business stuff. So maybe some people could get bored of it, though that's a genre I enjoy… Their are many complicated family feuds (trust me MANY)… they show us struggles for freedom and dreams too. The plot twists are really strange but unpredictable too. It's quite fun to watch but not too much intriguing for your brain either.
The deeds of the main villain is a total MESS. Once I got attached to the characters and started understanding the story… what was waiting for me next door was hate, anger and frustration. Many things annoy you to death here but the story will be left with nothing without them. Anyone looking for light weight fluffy stuff, just run away. This ain't for you.
I realized the cinematography is good and those Qipao dresses, the wavy silky hairstyles keeps us reminding of that era. The visuals are definitely a very big advantage here especially because it's a long 40 episode drama so there has to be something on screen that people can focus on. Of course, in addition to this setting, Jing Tian and Xu Weizhou are the best eye candies to stare at.
Jing Tian ( as Feng Shizhen ) — Feng Shizhen is strong and smart and she knows what she's doing. Jing Tian carries out this role very gracefully. From spying secretly with the gentle look of a governess (teacher) to expressing her emotions at the right moment. I was so hooked up to her character and totally rooting for her from the beginning.
Xu Weizhou ( as Rong Jiashang ) — he is the young master of the Rong family. Jiashang is an arrogant boy and was trained in the military academy from a small age. He is capable but pretty reckless too. He seemed like a puppy in love who wants to do so much but he needs to grow big first xD. I really pitied him all the way.
It's kinda funny how Jiashang's favorite sentence in the whole drama was "please give me some more time". He said this so many times that I couldn't even count it now. He reminds me that most of the scenes between him and Shizhen were repetitive. Though I agree they had their chemistry to carry it on.
Jing Chao ( as Meng Xu An ) — he is super cunning. In the beginning he maintained a cool gesture and a strong aura around him. But his character changes a lot throughout the drama.
{ My issues with the drama…}
—•• The biggest problem here is its pacing. The drama just gets super slow that you feel like the energy is missing. No matter how the plot goes, I literally felt the urge to speed it up like 2x or 3x many times… and every incident is so connected to each other that you can't even skip anything.
—•• I have another problem with the plot which is a spoiler so in the comments section.
The songs were fit for the occasion but didn't sound so special to go to my OST playlist.
✧ Favorite dialogue — "You have to live on, to see hope and a favourable turn" ✧
As to conclude, I am quite satisfied with this drama as all I was expecting here was a good revenge story and a strong female lead, which I got… So this turned out to be a good one time watch.
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Please make her stop screaming
A new judging criteria should be added: scream level. FL starts as a little girl always smiling hoping that a happy and nice child will be more easily adopted than a sad and crying one, but as an adult she cries and above all screams a lot..maybe too much. A good story is somehow ruined by this interpretation, like it happened with Kill me Heal me.And talking about comparison, here you can't help but compare Woo Do Hwan with Kim Woo Bin (Uncontrollably fond) and Lee Jun Ho (Just between lovers) and I'm sorry to say that the result is not so positive. Maybe his performance is ruined ruined by the over the top acting of Yoo Mi Lee.
Anyway, I enjoyed whatching this drama even if it didn't involve me emotionally as I thought.
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Until about episode 16 or so, it was mindblowingly good!
The main character is this crazy hero, who is so intelligent that he is practically an alien.
And love story is cute, although very expectable.
Ok, there were some minor flaws when it comes to the police work (like walking all over the scene of the crime and touching stuff etc.), but you can forgive such flaws, just like the bad acting of most of the foreign actors.
The intelligent plot is great to this point, but
THEN....
everything changes:
1) Right after they fall in love he just starts behaving like a normal person, thus looses all his
charming antisocial features.
2) Then comes the all-tying plot in, and it is so DAMN PREDICTABLE that I couldn't believe that
it comes from the same writers as before!
3) Everything becomes one huge ball of clichés, you expect this to happen, then that, and this again, and it all does. Freakingly disappointing!
4) And it starts to draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag... Seriously, from ep. 17 on I felt like watching something in slow motion.... because of the predictable "turns" it was even worse, not just the directing. The pace was totally off.
So - while the first arch of this drama was insanely good, the latter was so bad that I really had to
force myself to continue watching. Jeez, that was a pain in the butt.
The only good news: The last episode improved on that.
But the so charmingly outlandish main character was lost on the way.
The good part would get a 10 from me, the boring part a 6, thus it ends with an 8.
It is still worth watching, though.
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Chanyoung in class 2
Let me start by saying this is my first review ever on mydramalist. I've never felt the need to write one. Infact I've never even had an account but today i created an account and here i am writing a review , this is because of how annoyed i am by this showNow this is not to stop anyone from watching because its actually a cute watch. Its to prepare your mind not to expect anything great.
As someone who read the manhwa, im extremely annoyed by this series not because it did not meet my expectations but because this was made as a straight drama with queer baiting which i hate the most out of bls. I dont know why i even had expectations when this was being made by korea and i know how homophobic they are. They straight-washed this drama and made it about the side couple instead of the main couple. We had 10 episodes and instead of spending time developing the story of Heesu and Seunwong. They fed us with chanyoung and the girl(sorry i forgot her name) and we were left with crumbs for our actual main couple. I sincerely hope theres a season 2 to this where the main couple is actually explored so that i can understand why season 1 was made this way. I really liked it and enjoyed the slowburn but by ep6 it was beginning to be clear that we had just been qeer-baited to watch another straight drama and its very sad because Heesu and Seungwon have great chemistry. Seungwon's pinning for heesu is one for the books and when it becomes reciprocal you can see also just how much Heesu likes Seungwon too. The show was also quite realistic with the problems it gave high school students. This show in general had so much potential to be more than the producers allowed it to be and thats quite sad. If i was the writer of the actual manhwa i dont think i would have given permission for my book to become a series if they were only going to make such a terrible remake out of it but thats what the bl world means to these producers. Just a quick cash grab. I guess I'm done ranting now and feel better. Anyways if you decide to watch this and see my comment, i hope it atleast prepared you enough for what you're about to watch because the only way to fix this mess is a SEASON 2 and if there's a petition to sign for it, best believe I'll be on the list
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confused enjoyment
As a fan of Go Ara and Shopping King Louis I had really high expectations for this drama, and it took me for a ride. If you’re looking for a sweet romantic comedy about found family and learning to love again, then watch this!Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (the notes to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) is about a naïve rich pianist (Goo Rara) who reaches rock bottom after the death of her father, and a mysterious man (Sunwoo Jun) who lends her money and helps her get back on her feet with a piano academy. As fragile souls out in the world alone for the first time, they find comfort and love in each other as well as the cast of characters around them.
Strengths:
-The characters!
Rara is delightful. Despite falling so far from a sheltered life of comfort, she stays positive and hopeful, and her warmth heals the characters around her (and us in the audience). She sees and brings out the good in the people, and they reciprocate with the same energy. Multiple characters which start out antagonistic become part of the extended family and my heart is so filled with love.
-Acting/cast
Go Ara does a wonderful job of playing Rara, the role suits her perfectly since her personality is very similar in real life. Though Sunwoo Jun is initially a more restrained character compared to Rara, Lee Jaewook is great at communicating Jun’s inner thoughts through his eyes and body language, and he especially excels during the more emotional scenes that come later on. Go Ara and Lee Jaewook have great chemistry (people always say that it is despite the 8 year age gap but I don’t know why such an age gap (same as Shopping King Louis btw) only seems to be a potential obstacle when the woman is older but I digress). Other members of the cast do a great job at portraying supporting characters that we come to adore just as much as the main leads. Considering that this is a romantic comedy, the comedic timing does not disappoint either.
-Music
Music is an integral part of Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol. It takes classical pieces and weaves their meanings throughout the plot and characters, and their melodies throughout the backdrop. The piano scenes are so beautifully emotional that they make me regret quitting piano. In addition to the classical OST, there is also the conventional pop OST. Extraordinary You and Shopping King Louis fans will find familiar voices in the track list (Sondia, Epitone Project, April; Monsta X, GFriend).
-Dog!
Rara has a pomeranian named Mimi.
Weaknesses:
-Plot (in the last quarter of the drama) and ending
This drama really likes to subvert our expectations of tropes, which is a strength for most of its run (a spoiled and rich girl who’s not entitled and mean?? Great!). But in its last quarter, it falls victim to the typical show-is-ending-soon-so-let’s-stir-shit-up view bait that afflicts so many Kdramas. As an initially warm and positive show which became a source of healing for so many people, the last part of the drama is exhausting with the way it constantly tries to trick us by attempting to be smart with its manipulation of tropes. While in the beginning, tropes are subverted to avoid melodrama, the last quarter would subvert one melodramatic trope with a completely incomprehensible and melodramatic trope (it feels like the writers forgot they were supposed to be writing a romantic comedy). Its signature cute and heartwarming moments are still present in this last quarter but be prepared to get whiplash from the main couple, and don’t watch the episode previews because they become maliciously misleading (also, the ending is pure trash, 0/10).
Nonetheless, Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol is still enjoyable. If you wanted a drama with a tightly woven plot, then you probably need to look somewhere else. But, if you enjoy cuteness, laughter, character growth, supportive relationships, and cathartic music, then you should watch this drama.
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STORY:
The plot follows your basic Itazura na Kiss franchise, except the girl isn't as clingy and the guy isn't as cold. This made the drama a lot more watchable because I wasn't constantly frustrated with the characters. The storyline also progressed very smoothly: it transitions from high school life to adult life (while focusing the most on high school life). I fell in love with the friend group and the teachers who supported Chen XiaoXi. Even the characters I had initially hated I grew to love because the character development is off the charts. This really is the best youth drama because it truly captured the ways how people change and grow as they enter adulthood. From the bittersweet graduation to the rowdy class reunion, this drama shows that even though friends can be separated by distance, they will never be truly separated by love and fate. The love story between Chen XiaoXi and Jiang Chen also developed really well. It was one of those romances where you can't keep a silly smile off of your face and there's always a tingle in your fingertips. Overall, what made the storyline so amazing was the romance, the friendships, and the development.
ACTING/CAST:
I am so so SO impressed with all of the leads. This was both Hu Yi Tian and Shen Yue's first main role and they did a phenomenal job. They also had adorable chemistry and the height difference between HYT and SY was the cutest thing ever. Sun Ning (Lu Yang) and Wang Zi Wei (Lin Jing Xiao) also really complimented each other and brought their character's relationship to life. Now, let's talk about Gao Zhi Ting (Wu Bo Song). I FELL IN LOVE WITH GAO ZHI TING. He was so charming, funny, and total husband material. I found myself in a constant state of distress as I watched this drama because I couldn't decide if I supported Jiang Chen or Wu Bo Song. The second lead syndrome was SO strong in this drama. The love triangle is definitely interesting to watch. Hands down amazing cast and amazing acting!!
MUSIC:
You have no idea how much I love the opening. I never skipped it once, and I always sang along to it each time I watched it. Not only is it super cute, but the lyrics also capture the essence of youth and young love. The ending song is also very good. However, when I finished the last episode and the ending song started to play I couldn't help but cry. The music is amazing and compliments the drama very well!!
REWATCH VALUE:
I would definitely rewatch it!! This was such a short and refreshing drama, and the storyline was very fresh. I fell in love with the characters, and I would definitely go back to see them again!
OVERALL:
Hands down the best drama I have EVER watched. I really hope they make a season 2 because it's being labeled as the best youth drama in China right now as well. For those people on the fence about this drama, jump over the fence!! I promise you won't regret it!! Thank you so much for creating this drama. It will forever hold a special place in my heart :)
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This drama is so tiring to watch, and that's the reason why I loved watching this drama. It made me tired not because of its literary elements, rather because of its resemblance to the reality that we have as humans. How bounded it's by realism and its relatability is how it's able to sell itself to the large population of viewers. This isn't a drama you should watch when you need an escape. Rather, this is a drama you should watch if you want to be slapped by reality.
Arguably, this drama is welcomed with mixed reactions because of our own moral dilemmas. Some are saying that this drama romanticizes cheating. However, I think that's not the case. In our reality where cheating is usually seen as black-and-white, we realize how there are different shades of gray that comes into it. While the act itself is bad, we can see more of its complexity, giving us more room to understand. However, that doesn't mean we are condoning the act. The themes that the drama has are cliche but the way it's presented made it so interesting.
The characters in the drama are complex WHICH I THINK IS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT FACETS AS TO WHY THIS DRAMA WAS ABLE TO PRESENT ITSELF MORE EFFECTIVELY. Almost every character in the drama has an interesting and complex characterization which enabled the story to tackle several issues we see in our reality. Despite being a drama, its effectivity can serve as a commentary on modern Korean society with how raw and fresh it feels.
This drama is the second drama that Kim Eun wrote. With the reminiscent style of writing and vibe, I can confidently say how this drama highlighted her growth with regards her craft. While Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food felt like a prototype, One Spring Night felt complete and more realized.
I can only have praises for the acting and the casts of the drama. Most of the cast present in this drama can also be found from Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food. With this drama, we can see their improved capabilities especially for the fresh faces like Jung Hae In. A year difference showed a lot of growth not only for the writer but for the actors as well. I honestly can't critique them negatively for the acting as I find it so compelling to the point that I really wanted to strangle Giseok and Sihoon because of how pathetic they are. ELECTRIC CHAIR!!!
I also have a lot of praises for the music this drama has. This elevated the emotions and the quality of the drama. It gave a nostalgic vibe with a spice of hopefulness and tranquility in every listen.
Overall I'm giving this drama a 9.5/10. It's not perfect in all honesty. However, the growth and charm the drama possess made it deserving of a high rating :>.
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I've been enjoying it so far, it's really funny ?
This drama is hilarious so far 🤣 I've been laughing so hard 🤣 I love the chemistry and obviously the main lead 🥲His acting is something else.I have been a fan since "May I help you" ,"Brave citizen".I really recommend this drama if you want something funny, out of usual, with a lot of romance and unserious characters 😆
Well is not the Cinderella I've been excepting but way more better.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😍😍😍😍😍
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This review may contain spoilers
I wasn't expecting the plot twist but also i didn't watch the original movie yet
Its a light hearted story.I clicked on this movie by mistake but continued to watch it 😅
I stayed for the actor. Cuz i like his acting a lot 😍
The start was really good.
The cast is also good.
Its more like ... Reality instead of being cliché impossible drama track.
I liked jin goo's character a lot ... And also the girl from all of us are dead ...
The plot twist ... I didn't like it at all ... Didn't except it.
You need to be mature enough to accept everything from the plot twist till the end. Cuz things happens.
But i liked the girl's story.
Time travel... They didn't make it cliché or unrealistic.
I liked that everyone accepted their fate at the end.
I hope writers stop making dramas so realistic i wanna escape reality that's why i watch kdramas. I don't want to face reality but here we are, 2022 kdramas r all about facing reality 🙃 no thanks I'm happy in my unrealistic world ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ
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This review may contain spoilers
A simple, but very touching and sincere story
So far, together with Love for Love's Sake, this is my favourite BL series this year. The plot (best friends to lovers, miscommunication and misunderstanding) is nothing we haven't seen before, but the way it was told, i.e. past and present side by side throughout the first 7 episodes, in combination with an amazing cast, was absolutely compelling, I loved it and anticipated every new episode. A very honest, genuine, sincere love story with likable mains that had their faults but at the end I ended up sympathizing with both of them. The cherry on top for me was that there was never any doubt how much Ji and Achi loved each other despite their struggles to deal with it and admit it. They certainly deserved their episode 8 and the happiest ending ever.This isn't a series that can be watched casually to spend the time, because many of the details are important to understand the parallels between the past and the present and to unveil why the characters would act the way they did. Ji spends most of his time in the present trying to desperately protect himself from being abandoned again, but at the same time he is the biggest Achi fanboy and can't really deny him anything despite being blunt and direct. In contrary, in the present Achi finally does what he wanted to do in the past but didn't dare to and relentlessly pursues Ji until the misunderstanding is cleared up. I loved both of them so much and I hope to see these actors again, because they did such a great job. Ji crying while admitting to Coin that he still hasn't forgotten Achi and Achi crying while watching Ji with Pear in the cinema moved me equally. The love scenes were very well done, too. The desperate longing looks, the heat, the adoration, devotion, the pure happiness once they came together, it was all there. I've lost count how many times I've rewatched the kiss from episode 4. I said this already, but I'll say it again - Ji and Achi were utterly and totally in love the entire time, in past and present, and it was transmitted believably on screen. This is what I want to see most in a BL - both mains being obviously into each other and being open and honest about it once they come together.
I would've loved to see more of the second couple instead of finding out that everybody in the hospital was into Achi, because there were some filler scenes I think could've been used better. Still, I'm giving the series full marks, because I enjoyed watching it so much, I adored the main couple and their relationship so much and because I found the way the story was told fascinating and captivating so it felt like something new I haven't seen before despite the simple plot. Also, I think the current rating for the series is very undeserving and hope more people will give it a chance.
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What an utterly stupid movie.
The premises are interesting enough: two "love swindlers" meet, and their carefully planned arts of seduction are put to the test by the experience of the other. Up to this point, everything's fine: two very good looking people are thrown into some funny situations, keeping the viewer entertained for the duration of… a quarter of an hour.
After that, all the inconsistency of this plot come to the surface. This should be a romantic comedy, but where is the romance? Unless we are to think that beauty were the one and only prerogative to love and be loved, there is absolutely nothing likable about those two. They are cynical, spoiled, prejudiced and irritating. If you expect a character development, a little something to make you empathise with one of them or both, you'll be disappointed. There is no characterization whatsoever here: why are these two disillusioned? No idea. Are they going to change, feel deeper, be taught some valuable lesson by the encounter? No.
All we see is 2 handsome people displaying all their weapons, from beginning to end. The point of a romantic comedy is to satisfy the comedic and the romance. In this movie, the comedic is repetitive and the romance non existent, since who cares about two bad people who stay bad?
I suppose the acting saves the day. Son Ye Jin is unusually feisty and plays her role very well, given the little material she was given to work with. This was my first time watching Song Il Gook on screen, but I know he's played serious roles before, so I guess he did a good job too in portraying a funnier character. Since there is no true soul in this movie though, I can't imagine they had to work hard on identifying with their characters.
Music… can't remember, I'm afraid.
No way I'm ever going to rewatch this movie, I'd rather have my foot be hit with a hammer.
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This show is the wake up call that begs us to be more skeptical.
This whole documentary just made me angry. The idea that some people can get so easily manipulated simply by the virtue of a person claiming they have holy guidance makes my blood boil. Rape, torture, murder, abuse, suicide - all because some random person claimed they are Jesus reincarnated. At the same time, it shows how clever these cult leaders were, how well planned their schemes were and how they selected the victims - they did not target everyone. That's why it's so important for us ask questions and rely on more than trust and belief.I’m not going to lie, the level of religious freedom in Korea was always fascinating for me. On the first glance the idea of all the religions being able to rather peacefully coexist in one country, where no one is truly judged by their religious beliefs sounds like a utopia. With this level of acceptance and “no questions asked” comes a big danger though: the country becomes a breeding ground for cults. How many reincarnated Jesuses can there be in the small country of South Korea at the same time?
The documentary presents a rather uncomfortable question: what to do with victims who become perpetrators? How much can be forgiven based on the brainwashing they went through, and how much responsibility should they take for their actions? The leaders were evil, we can all agree. We wanted them to be punished and suffer as much as their victims did. What with the members? Logically speaking you know they are the victims, but it’s impossible not to feel any resentment towards them.
Some people may say it was unnecessarily detailed, unnecessarily graphic, unnecessarily descriptive, but I strongly disagree. Did this documentary make you feel uncomfortable? Angry? Sad? Scared? Good, then it did its job to present the reality of the victims. Saying it was unnecessarily detailed is like saying it was unnecessary realistic - they used real footage of the events, they used real photos, videos and recordings, they used real testimonies - it was not shown for a shock value, it was shown because it was the reality of what happened. The reality was just that shocking, awful and evil.
If I were to complain about one thing production wise - some footages were shown a few too many times, especially of JMS in the first 3 episodes. They kept showing the same videos of him preaching, and that I felt was a bit too much and truly unnecessary. Showing it once would be enough.
TW: I don’t know… feels like anything you can think of: rape, dead bodies, suicide, self harm, abuse, child neglect, child abuse… They show real photos and videos from crime scenes and recordings from victims, even the reenacted interviews are detailed and based on the real statements from real victims. It’s a lot.
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