This review may contain spoilers
Shrimpie, you can now rest in peace
I started tgis expecting a fun Republican era mystery with some Lost Tomb lore and somehow ended up emotionally destroyed by Zhang HaixiađWatching him go from this smart, sarcastic accountant constantly bickering with haiyan to someone willing to give up everything just so his partner in crime could live was painful enough, but the show somehow made it worse.
He doesn't get a heroic ending,he doesn't get peace,he comes back broken, traumatized, stripped of his own will, turned into a weapon while Haiyan desperately tries to save him as everything crashes down around them, it was just tragedy after tragedy.
And Ding Yuxi absolutely wrecked me throughout the serie especially larest episodes, the emptiness in his eyes, the way you could feel Haixia disappearing piece by piece... I genuinely wasn't prepared for that Shrimpie deserved happiness and instead got endless suffering. I'm sick, devastated, and probably not recovering from this anytime soon đđ
Haiyan trying his best to save him and save tgeir mentor was heartbreaking, he was grieving his only family while they were dying infront of him slowly, his guilt run deep, he killed his shrimpie and left living with this reality.
When it come to overall storytelling, they cut a lot and added some side stories that i didnt care about, we deserved the scenes that were deleted, anyway this was a ride, recommended
Was this review helpful to you?
As you can see from the synopsis, the basis of this story revolves around a forbidden love aspect, in this case, a woman falling in love with her husband's son. Don't worry, there's no pedophilia here, all are adults. Interspersed throughout the drama is a secondary storyline about politics that I didn't really pay attention to, and I doubt anyone else watching this will, as it had no real bearing on the story in general. In fact, with the inclusion of the political story line I felt that the focus of the drama was a bit confused. Was I watching a political drama or a romance dram?
That serves to be one of the drama's biggest flaws; the lack of focus and the lack of raw emotion on the character's part. Rei and Hitoshi are supposed to be involved in a passionate, torrid love affair. I saw nothing of that. In fact, it seems that Hitoshi's main attraction to Rei is mere a physical one; the earlier in the drama we are treated to stereotypical scenes of him oggling her while doing household chores, and the obligatory scene of Rei getting a food item stuck on her lips and Hitoshi staring lustfully at the article of food. There are scenes in which an emotional connection is sparked between the two, but those are sparse. I think the political themed side story lined could have been done away with and we could have seen more of the relationship developed between to two characters.
I can describe this drama in one word: lukewarm. Given the heavy subject matter, I expected much more from the characters. Rei's husband and Hitoshi's father does very little to make Rei remain with him and to keep the couple apart Given his controlling nature at the beginning, it is all too plausible that he would go to great lengths to keep his wife; he did not. The character who we get the most out of is Hitoshi's former girlfriend Nanami. She is the character who gives the most emotion. Otherwise, for the supposedly controversial subject matter the drama doesn't really give much to keep you hanging on to your seat.
It isn't necessarily a bad drama, though it may be dull and slow moving for some. At the beginning you will be intrigued, but by the end you may just lose interest. The end was standard drama fare, so don't expect any surprises. Ultimately this drama can be use as a time passer and an opportunity to indulge in Saito Takumi eye candy.
Was this review helpful to you?
Beautiful Story and Beautifully Shot
First, this is not for everyone. If you're expecting a BL, you can stop expecting a BL - it's not one. There is an LGBT aspect of the story, and the male gaze is present as Atom wears very little thorughout which is a goldmine for shallow people like me, and when he is dressed up, he looks amazing.Reading the comments section, there is a bit of overstatement of the theatricality of the series. It is intentionally play-like, but the purely visual elements are of equal importance to the dialogue, and I think that because this was deceptively marketed a BL, the audience was looking for BL and not seeing what was really there, and you can't blame the audience for that.
If you approach this as a straightforward story, you may hate it - it's an allegory, so it's important to think about what everyting symbolizes and what is metaphor, and what the message is.
There are many related themes, a couple of the more surfacy ones being the futility of second-guessing past decisions - and the utility of atonement in order to move on.
The structure of the story has Sunshine given the power to totally erase a person from the universe each night for 7 Days before Valentine('s - I wish these productions could get the grammar of the title correct), and the correct decision will bring love back to him. Each erasure has a lessson, but this causes the biggest problem with the series and what I think is the main reason so many people disliked it and/or dropped it:
it's too long, One of the erasures is a self-indulgent political statement by the writer, which didn't belong in here. What would have been more meaningful and universal would have been to erase the Conservative, ending up in a Stalinist far-left conformity, as without balance even the side you're on can become descend into oppression.
Another of the erasures just makes Sunshine evil and malicious and should not have been included, Some of his decisions are bad, but viewed through the lens of his heartbreak is understandable, but this one isn't - it's just awful of him.
The acting in this is fantastic - the series rests firmly on Atom's shoulders, and he carries it. His heartbreak is heartbreaking, his smile is even worse (so beautiful it hurts), and there's a scene with him on stage that's worth it in itself. Jet is good too, but he has a more limited range and I don't think he quite kept up with Atom. The small parts are all very well acted, even "annoying stock characters" that made them all compelling, like Jared the Flower Guy. who could have just been irritating, but it's hard not to fall in love with him.
I loved this series, but I did feel it bogged down in the middle. If you can put up with that, the end is worth it. But again, this is not a BL, so don't watch it expecting one.
Was this review helpful to you?
After trailer - WOW! After actual series - WTF?!
There are many independent production teams that don't have many sponsors or rely on YouTube subscribers donations. There are also many BL movies/series/mini-series worth watching despite apparent small budgets or newbies actors. Unfortunately, The Star is not one of them, and here's why.Good cinematography is largely about money. Production team, actors, equipment, etc. all require some resources - without that, not a move. You just need money to make a series. But if you think the main problem here is a small budget - better think twice.
For me, the failure of this series is the wrong business decisions. When the trailer consisting of super hot 18+ scenes was released, I thought The Star could aspire to be the hottest series of the year (!). But then I noticed that it's not a series just a movie, which means that international viewers will have to wait several months from the day of release. Tough luck, I'll wait. Then it was change - from a movie it became a mini-series: 2x25 min, and I was like: WTF? How can a movie be edited into two short episodes?
The story itself had potential, but the creativity here was lacking. The lousy first 25 minutes do not encourage you to watch the second part, which (note!) is only 17 minutes long. Why? The remaining promised 8 minutes are "exclusive content" available only to subscribers of the company's YouTube channel at certain levels. You need to pay at least 7(?) dollars to see what they have prepared for us. And guess what? I'm all for supporting young creators and actors as much as possible. Their work is sometimes worth more than the "works" released by well-known studios. But this 8 minutes content - it's just not worth it. This is not an uncut episode as one might expect. It's 8 minutes of cut NC scenes that couldn't appear on YouTube. Yes, the notable sexy scene from the trailer is also there.
If you've already seen The Star - I'm sorry you had to watch it. If you haven't yet - let it go. The low budget stings all the way through, But even money won't help if you don't know how to make the narrative interesting. The actors give it their all, but the dull script, weird editing and general lack of sense don't help the reception of this series. There's nothing interesting here, and it's not a matter of difficult subject matter as some claim, it's more of a really bad execution.
Perhaps I had too high expectations, but this is completely not what I expected. The Star turned out to be one of those productions you look forward to, only to rub your eyes in amazement later, wondering: what am I even watching? It seems that all the potential of the series was stolen by the one-and-a-half-minute trailer, the rest is better left out of silence.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Started with a bang, ended with a fizzle
If there was ever a K-drama that could have used 16 episodes, "No Gain, No Love" might be the one. For all its hilarity and touching moments, there were quite a few plot cracks that a couple of laughs and tears couldn't quite plaster over.This is a long one, but let me start with the positives:
- Son Hae-yeong is definitely making my list of the most memorable female K-drama leads of all time. I loved it every time she was on screen. She was funny, assertive, good at her job, and true to her character from beginning to end. There was so much depth to her, especially when it came to displaying all the hurt from her childhood. Kudos to SMA for bringing this amazing character to life, this is my first time finishing a project of hers and I was really impressed here.
- The rom rommed, and the com commed. I genuinely laughed out loud at so many moments while watching this show, and I enjoyed the chemistry between Hae-yeong and Ji-uk. The second couple was cute too and had great chemistry, but I couldn't fully get into them.
- My girl Han Ji-hyun was soooo good and adorable in this drama. Loved her in Cheer Up despite the disaster that show became, and she shone even brighter here. Can't wait to see more of her in the spin-off.
- Isn't it amazing when adults behave like adults and communicate? It was nice to see the back of the noble idiocy trope in this show and that unnecessary misunderstandings were kept to a minimum or at least quickly addressed. And a lot of interesting themes were addressed too, although not always in a satisfactory way.
- The foster sister trio. There's nothing like an amazing girl squad in a K-drama that stays amazing and uplifting until the end. It reminded me a lot of the trio from King the Land -- they have their differences and squabbles, but they support each other all through. It was heartwarming to see.
Now, onto the negatives:
- The ending was such a letdown, especially coming off the penultimate episode. I figured that it would be a bit rushed, but I was disappointed in just how much was left unresolved, most especially when it comes to emotional closure for our female lead. It was sad to see how much her feelings about her mother were cast aside when it is at the root for her character and personality, and there's simply no resolution for her. For someone who doesn't like to take a loss, she lost quite a lot in this drama. There's so much else to talk about here but that will be too much of a spoiler.
- The second couple's relationship, while cute to see, not only took too much screen time away from the first couple (especially considering that they have their own spin-off), it also seems quite unbelievable at the heart of it and hard to root for. The second male lead, Bok Gyu-hyun, who also happens to be HY's boss, becomes quite the villain, especially towards HY, but also towards the second female lead, who is HY's younger (foster) sister, Nam Ja-yeon. And so it's hard to understand how quickly NJY forgives BGH and falls in love with him despite the gravity of what he's done (and he only apologizes for what he did to her, but not what he does to HY or Ji-uk), especially with how close she is to HY. Poor writing and characterization, imo.
- Too many extraneous characters and plot points to follow, which further made the lack of resolution in the final episode more glaring. I'm not sure why K-dramas are yet to fully figure out how many episodes they need for the plot points they have. 12 episodes was not enough to fully flesh all of these out and still leave room for character development, and it really showed.
- Young-dae's character Ji-uk was seriously shafted for a main lead role, probably worse than HY. So many parts of his story felt underdeveloped, and the other characters overshadowed him.
All in all, "No Gain, No Love" was a fun time but suffered from a weaker second half. There was a lot of material for it to be truly good and iconic, but sadly a lot of it was wasted. Still, the great parts were great, with a lot of laughs and shed tears and cool performances. It will probably not make it into my list of faves, but it was a good watching experience overall. 7/10.
Was this review helpful to you?
ACTING/CAST:
Kim Seung Woo was no doubt can carry his part well and charismatic. This is the first time i get to see TOP acting so i dont really know his acting range, but what i can say was, his acting in this movie was tip top!
Kwon Sang Woo was really doing good job as well.
And as per usual, not being biased, but Cha Seung won really can act. From Villain to Comedian... his acting range is really wide. He oozes overflowing charisma.
Strongly recommended movie.
Was this review helpful to you?
Not Everyone's Favorite Star (but I loved it, so~)
Story: 8.5/10This is another "I liked him first, but he fell harder and just happens to be dumber" situation, which can make it seem a bit predictable, but I think it's still cute~ The first few episodes start out SO STRONG. I loved the way Daonuea and his friends interacted, and the way his sibling relationship was shown; it was so heartwarming and wholesome and just overall accurate. The way they support Dao while also knowing he was full of shit when he said he was over his crush was best-friend-level-tier, you know? The conflict was a bit... much. This story, like many of BLs, suffers from a lack of communication. Well, I should say PROPER communication, as Kluen is more of a doer than a sayer, which pretty much sums up all of their problems. His actions speak louder and way better than his words, but that's not always enough, especially when the other party was explicit and you kinda-not-really-but-technically-did turn them down. If that sounded confusing to you, then that's because it really is a bit confusing. One of the side characters says that Kluen is "book smart but a dumbass," and she's right. These characters are a bit too complex to try to fit into 8 episodes, but I think Dunk (Daonuea) and Joong (Kluen) did great with what they had, which is why I, despite hating the miscommunication, still enjoyed the show~
Acting/Casting: 10/10
We got all of my new favorite actors, even the side characters are some of my favs, so I'm a bit biased here, but I think they did great with what they had. Everyone felt so necessary, even Noel, whom I thought was just an extra to show that Kluen had a friend aside from Gia, ended up being an important player in an interesting way~
Music: 9/10
The OST is good, and there's nothing wrong with the background music or anything; I generally just tend to rate music based on how many songs I absolutely NEED to get on my playlist, and, with all of these great shows coming out with their soundtracks being ON-POINT, I'm spoiled. I felt generous since everyone keeps talking shit on this show, though, so I gave it a higher rating than I probably would have.
Rewatch Value: 10/10
Despite it's flaws and the annoying miscommunication, I still really enjoyed this show. Like I said, the first few episodes were so good and sweet that I had to go to the dentist and get some teeth pulled from the cavities lmao KluenNuea's moments were fluffy and hit just the right spot that I just.. Ugh. So good. I'm actually writing this review after watching 5 times to help boost the rating since DramaList tends to be super harsh on shows for some reason~ (Everyone wishes they were a Critic Writer, I suppose đ¤ˇââď¸)
Overall: 9.5/10
People on DramaList really do think they're connoisseurs with shows sometimes, especially when others really like specific actors. I'm not entirely sure why, but if the rating of the show is the only thing making you hesitate to watch this, then I recommend going for it anyway. It's not everyone's cup of tea, of course, but it's also only 8 episodes, so it's a short, cute watch when you need some BL or JoongDunk in your life -- it doesn't have to be serious or something you binge, though I absolutely did binge it several times with no shame~ The production was great, the OST was good, the acting was on-point, and I just love how everyone interacts with each other in this drama, from the romance to the friendships; it's all so fluffy and sweet~
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A show that quietly sneaks up on you then catches you in its grasp
Hot Spot has a charm all of its own. This is a show that quietly sneaks up on you and then catches you in its grasp. From the opening moments of working in the hotel, the rescue of the Ki by the resident alien, through to saving the hotel, this story explores the true meaning of friendship.There is a lot of talking in this show. Some would say itâs nonsensical chat. However, it has a charm all of its own and is the glue that holds Hot Spot together. This includes amongst the hotel staff at the Lake Hotel, the group of growing friends as they eat out on a regular basis to enjoying drinks at a friends bar.
Takahashi as the half alien is the showâs focus and the FL is the narrator and number one friend. The running gag is him bending a ten yen coin and everyone finding out he is an alien along the way. There is a cost to him using his powers that always results in him recuperating in the hot springs at the hotel. Each time the friends need his help, he starts out unwilling to help but in the end he always does.
A key production feature of this show is that there is no glitz or glamour. Itâs like being in a town as you would expect to find that is almost like a sleepy hollow. Underlying it all are themes regarding friendship, acceptance, the challenges of tourism, environmentalism with a tiny touch of corruption thrown in.
I enjoyed the window into this part of Japan with a slice of pared back goofiness along with some very good acting with perfect timing.
Was this review helpful to you?
Short show with mind-reading twist that will make you laugh
This is not the usual low-budget short show. The storyline about a writer who gets sucked into her own novel/book is not exactly new but the twist of her husband in the book - whom she is supposed to act against in all her missions - is able to hear her thoughts, is quite unique - and very funny and interesting to watch. I think itâs probably one of the 3 best shows (of this kind) Iâve seen so far. 10 minutes is actually perfect. Not too fast and not too slow.Character wise: FLs father (in the book) is so cute and sweet. Her parents were a pleasant surprise. Other than that we have this clever and cunning FL who is matched perfectly with a ML thatâs equally clever. However he would have been in so much trouble if he didnât get the ability to hear FLs thoughts - how lucky, LOL.
Acting wise this is top notch. I saw ML in âThe Killer is also Romanticâ and he is brilliant in this kind of role. He gives me a Cheng Yi vibe, in a funny version that is (lets face it, Cheng Yiâs roles are often very serious).
Since it ends on a cliffhanger Iâm definitely going to keep my eye out for season 2.
If you love a funny and interesting short show - with lots of twists and turns - this is a âMust Watchâ
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
First of all, why did they choose to call the drama "Apple in Your Eye"? I find that ridiculous because the Chinese title translated to English is "Little Sister". I don't understand why they made the change, since the themes of the drama would still work well with "Little Sister".I actually liked the plot. I haven't watch too much Taiwanese dramas because most of the plots have become too similar. They seem to enjoy the corny plots the most, as I keep seeing them. The main girl was kinda whiny throughout the whole drama, but I did enjoy it, despite its many corny moments.
I disliked the ending due to some spoilery plot reasons I cannot mention in this review. It affected my feelings toward the drama as a whole, but overall, this drama was one of the better Taiwanese ones.
Was this review helpful to you?
Dark, fluffy, funny...
This is the story of what happens when a lot of broken people come together and the craziness that heals them... As this story is packed with dark and mean humour, some intrigues and about 99 levels of revenge... Teaching us that we are basically all broken people trying to find someone to direct our anger att... And h*** sometimes that anger just might lead to love... Crazy, fun, painful, love...While the female lead does give Stockholm syndrome a face, she is also fun, cool, crawl, independent and not as pathetic as one may think even at her lowest. She is true to herself throat the story making her lovable at alll times.
The male lead is everything from cool, cold, crewl,,, to a soft teddy bear in need of some love...
Combining the two may bring about 989899 cliches but they are highly entertaining,
The side characters do their jobs well, some are fun and lovable, others slightly annoying but not over the top annoying.
there are some side plots that feel unnecessary and are there to try to divert our attention in the mystery plot but they ar kind of meeh... so is the main mystery in this... very meeh and only there probably to show the why the male lead is the way he is and make us forgive all his wrongdoings, but chances are it will not keep you on your toes,
The dad in this drama is such a sweetheart, one of the sweetest dads in all of dramaland....
The acting is good, bingabilaty high, the visuals are lovely... so overall a pretty decent rom com that had me laughing a lot (the first 5 episodes). It also catered to my fluff needs and did not aggravate me too much. this drama may not be a masterpiece and does not bring much new but it is definitely my type of rom-com.
Oh and the amount of screenshot and gif opportunities in this are endless...
Was this review helpful to you?
There are so many good elements to the movie which is why I'm confused how it all came together so...poorly ?? It tackles, gentrification, corruption, money laundering, greed, ambition, and lust which generally are all themes and plot points that I enjoy but every time I felt the story was actually going somewhere or making some sort of point, it never pulled through and just flopped. However, there were some dialogues that were....really good? But always felt out of place honestly. Like the film was making points but when those important commentaries on society were being made, it always felt random and like those scenes never really flowed into the story progression naturally.
As for the explicit scenes, I admittedly love the way Korean actors deliver sex scenes because they are always so raw and sensual and I think the first one definitely was, but the second sex scene left me feeling skeezy after watching it, something that rarely happens. I get that was probably the point of it, but I think it was really the camerawork of that scene that really took it over the top. After that, the third sex scene, especially the context of it, felt really cheap once again and honestly made me uncomfortable which is disappointing because I love a good sex scene.
Speaking of the camerawork, I feel like there was no set style to the movie? There were attempts to be artsy but they were mostly randomly placed and just....not well done. Kind of cheap feeling.
Overall, I would not recommend this movie, wouldn't say there's much to get from it. Only reason I give it a 5 and not a 3 or 4 is because the social commentaries were good and are important, especially in today's world, but I wish the overall story and direction was better.
Was this review helpful to you?
The plot itself isn't groundbreaking but the execution sealed the deal for me. It's more about the journey of a girl going all in after she's given a second chance in life rather than a romance, something I really came to appreciate by the end of the show.
On the music side, one pet peeve I have is that Chinese dramas tend to have cringy and exaggerated music for sad scenes which is extremely off-putting, so I'm glad to see this drama forego that for some amazing OST that actually made me tear up. But I cry a lot during dramas so maybe it's not that amazing lol
Most of the actors were rookies when they made this show and they were pretty solid. I have no complaints because I was immersed the whole time. Well, maybe one complaint â the show wasn't long enough for them to really show off their skills. Season 2, please!
Was this review helpful to you?
BTOB: I've always liked BTOB since I became a Kpop fan, just never really paid much attention to them like some of the other groups in the show. But BTOB has to have some of the best if not the best vocals in Kpop and Kingdom really showed their vocals in the best way
SF9: Before KINGDOM I never really knew anything about sf9 and the probably only knew 3 members but now I know all the members and want to watch sf9 content and get into the group more. Performance wise I didn't really what they were capable of but they are really great performers and not just idol-actors, they really excel in rap, vocals and dance
IKON: I hate to say it because I love Ikon, they were one of the groups I got into when I first got into Kpop but their performances didn't really do anything for me except the last performances was great
STRAY KIDS: I had high expectations from them just from seeing past performances and for the most part they exceeded those expectations, were all their performances my favorite not at all but as a whole they were great (REALLY WISH THEY WOULD'VE HAD HYUNJIN THE WHOLE TIME)
THE BOYZ: I first got introduced to THE BOYZ on Road to Kingdom and have liked them ever since. I know they got a lot mixed results from their performances but I really enjoyed all their performances
ATEEZ: I hate to be that fan but I think I was rather bias towards ATEEZ because I've been a fan of theirs since debut. I really love what they brought to kingdom and they gave it their 100% even when they may not have got all the results they wanted. For me personally and if it was decision ATEEZ would have won (MISS YOU MINGI!!!)
Was this review helpful to you?
