This review may contain spoilers
Such a disappointment
I just finished the drama yesterday and I was super frustrated and disappointed because after all I had high expectations because of the writer Park Hae Young with her Masterpiece drama (My Mister) but I was totally wrong. This drama had few amazing written scenes but most of it was a fail.First of all, Mr. Gu I never understood him… and I found his character very poor written. even thoughI personally like the actor but this character was a big no. Always looking bored, lost and tired with a mystery past that was not exciting at all nor well explained. Also, his relationship with the FL oh my god… I have never ever hated main couple romance as I hated it in this drama. I almost skipped all of there scenes as I found it very boring, uncomfortable and very weird and not charming at all. I didn’t get their relationship at all and I don’t understand when the love bloomed? I hated watching nonsense so I just skipped it.
Chang hee was my favourite character. His scenes and dialogues were amazing and the actor excellently delivered his emotions, but I unfortunately skipped most of his scenes at the last couple episodes right after the stupid THIME SKIP. I the time skip thing was it necessary? Because actually the last three episodes were a total fail and the writer missed up. Ki Jung was also my favourite character as I found her very relatable outspoken and true to her self… but again why she super unconfident after being with tae hoon? Why all of a sudden would she accept mistreatment from his crazy sister and spoiled daughter? What happneed to the outspoken strong confident woman? I was really angry with how the writer ruined her character and even did not give her a clear proper ending. And tae hoon ahhh don’t even get me started. he promised to marry her when his daughter becomes 20??? and the way he ignores all the stupid things that his sister does to his girlfriend and yet pretending that he is the one who is having a hard time?
I would never watch this drama again and I just gave it 5 for the acting and couple of scenes.
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Our female protagonist is a colorful character to put it lightly. She is dressed like a 90's rapper: tacky, flashy, over the top, all with matching pimp rings to tie it together. While I had no problem with this (even though her hair looked like a hat most of the time), I did have an issue with how she dominated everything when she could have been easily discarded. Let's be honest the female lead should have been disbarred the first or second episode. From blackmail to illegally obtaining documentation/information, our main lead has no issues with getting down and dirty(even if it is far-fetched) .
The story begins to step into hella-far-fetched territory during EP 4. The writers poorly try to keep the two leads together by giving them cases to somehow connect them. It drags, and the punches become expected after EP 5. You sit back and say "here he/she(main leads) come." Predictability isn't a bad thing, but when the story relies on intellect and twist it becomes boring. The main male lead always fumbling when he encounters her took away from his character. He should have been ruthless, hard, not easily shaken, and witty. But since he wasn't during those forced encounters, he became weak as an overall lead. Overall I finished..... But like a $15.00 buffet with mediocre food, I got my moneys worth eating all I could, why not I am already here. But I wouldn't go back for a second time even if i was offered the chance.
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Forgettable
No problem with the slow start and story build up so that wasn't an issue for me watching this drama.Liked it very much in the beginning actually.
It somehow started to get dull especially around episode 36-40 though.
The story lose me when they can't communicate with each other and the only option is a break up or divorce. Yeah, it didn't last long, but why even put that in the script? When ml knows his wife did so much for him and was ill herself. He doesn't think twice before making that dumb decision. It was disappointing.
Cheng Lei big fan of his work, but his character in this drama was not my favorite. I don't know if it's because of the writing of his character or not.
Just wasn't excited to see him on screen when it showed him. He did have a few cool scenes I give him that. It just wasn't enough.
Bai Lu and Cheng Lei had cute scenes together at first. Later it felt like they were saying their lines. Don't know how else to explain it. Wasn't excited enough about their characters relationship anymore.
Glad everyone else enjoyed it! It just wasn't my favorite from the leads.
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Too much romance instead of development.
At a Distance, Spring is Green. My first thoughts? The poster looked like something from a 2010's show, which isn't bad but seeing a yellow haired male lead made me just not like Park Ji Hoon's (Yeo Joon's) look at all. But, I started liking his look later on in the show.Just a note, I have never saw the webtoon before so this is solely based on the drama itself.
CHARACTERS/STORY
MALE LEADS
Yeo Joon and his family were brought into the limelight in starting episodes, but after that, where are they? Yeo Joon's current family problems are faded into the background after introducing it one episode, and we just kept getting flashbacks. Until they decided to bring back his family problems second to last episode. Beside his family problems, Yeo Joon isn't that bad of a character.
Soo Hyun, not bad either but not my favorite. Soo Hyun starts warming up to Yeo Joon the last minute, having some/barely any scenes with them. I just don't really know what to talk about him.
Chan Ki, boring! And they at least try to redeem his character soon in the story, He barely gets screen time. And if he does, sure he has his haha moments but that's it.
FEMALE LEADS
So Bin, not gonna lie, after seeing Kang Min Ah in True Beauty I was pretty excited she'll get her own main role, but her character's a bore. Don't get me wrong, it's not like she's just standing their all episodes but she's just a bore? Too nice maybe? She does have a backstory to her past but that's only for 1-2 episodes in the middle of the show.
Mi-joo, boring. I won't lie, her character COULD'VE been better with some screen time and development, we barely know anything about her to even declare if she's good or not. Only thing I know is that she has good fashion sense. She also had to many scenes "drooling" over Soo-hyun. But I'll give props to screenwriters for not making her some cocky rich girl as I thought she would've been.
Young Ran, maybe the most interesting? But not really also because lack of screen time, all we know is that she's Soo-hyun's longest friend, she's strong physically, and that's about it.
SOBIN AND YEO JUN'S ROMANCE
I personally think they're romance was pretty cute but took too much screen time to develop most characters. Talking about you the most Mi-joo.
SOO HYUN'S LOVE TRIANGLE
What an annoying triangle I've ever seen. One is to scared to admit their feelings and the other one get's too hook up on Soo-hyun thinking they know everything about him while barely having any interactions with him.
SOO HYUN AND YEO JOON'S BROMANCE/FRIENDSHIP
Love, love, LOVEEE! IT! I recommend you stay to watch these two if you don't like the romance part, although some episode they barely get any scenes at all with each other.
ACTING
The acting was great! Not enough to give a 10 though but great!
MUSIC
Loved! I mostly have a lot of them on my playlist.
WILL I REWATCH?
Specific episodes only.
SUMMARY!!
This show was amazing at first to me, what was missing was character development/likability in a lot of characters, wasted scenes with So-bin and Yeo Jun's romance, Soo-hyun's stupid love triangle, and again. WASTED SCENES! Although my rating isn't that high I do recommend that you check this out as it only has 12 episodes, I think it should've had 16 or just more time duration!
They're other things I would've talked about like Mi-joo and Soo-hyun's interactions, Jun-wan and Yeo Joon and more but I think you'll make your own opinion on those once you choose to watch it or not.
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The story is a prequel to The Lost Tomb so there will be a lot of scenes were they are in a mine if you loved The Lost Tomb i will recommend you to watch this. Also the drama will focus a lot on the bad guys so they will appear very often like they are the main character. There is not an end yet because there will be a season 2 so it won't be sure that the original cast will stay. The drama will be a lot about action,adventure,mystery and romance. Also the love story of William and Zhao Li Ying was great you will love that couple but Zhao Li ying wasn't really a main character she appeared in a few episodes.
Acting
The role of Fo Ye was perfect for William Chan he did a great job and Zhao Li Ying did a great job as Yi Xinyue with her stubborn role. What i also liked was that she wasn't scared to tell Fo Ye that she liked him and that she knew what she wanted. Lay acting was good as well i really liked him in the scenes with Ya Tou there scenes were very emotional. The rest of the cast was great too the only character that annoyed me was the white guy when he spoke chinese it annoyed me and he talked very slow.
Music
I loved the Ost especially LJM - huan hun men and the beginning was of William Chan and the ending song was also great chinese music are usually really good.
Rewatch
I don't think i will rewatch everything but i will rewatch the scenes of Zhao Li Ying and William Chan because of their great chemistry
Overal
Good drama with great couples i would recommend you to watch this if you like The Lost Tomb or you liked the main leads.
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This review may contain spoilers
What a RIDE!! I'm so thankful
I actually feel sorry for people who dropped Playboyy in early episodes because early episodes are kinda confusing I can't lie.. Everyone is just randomly having sex with other characters out of nowhere.. But that's the things that makes Playboyy so unique and amazing. You can't understand what's going on but you get addicted anyway. Like for real I rewatched it every episode at least 3 times and everytime I noticed new things!!Actors are so bold, sincere and comfortable so it makes everything better because even in cringey scenes I enjoyed it so much! In some bl's they don't even let different ships actors interact with each other but in Playboyy nearly every character has at least 3 different ships like poor/lucky Dech literally made out with half of the cast because he played 2 characters...
Choice of music were amazing as well. I listen the opening credits everyday :)
Other thing that made Playboyy so special was the comment section. Everyone was so unhinged, funny and polite at the same time and I enjoyed coming to this amazing comment section every week. Let's reunite in season 2 comment section!!! <3
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Having watched 'Iljimae',I must say, there is very little in common between these two dramas, other than the 'Robin Hood' nature of Iljimae and his rather misfortunate connection to his parents.
The return of Iljimae has a broader framework,is more well written, and explores the identity of Iljimae as a hero of the times, working against injustice than for any personal quest. I felt that the story and the characters were more complete in this.
The action sequences are good. There must have been plenty of rope and pulleys used in the making, as Iljimae and numerous others are always flying and leaping about in these scenes.
The episodes are all interesting, and keep you moving forward without boredom.
Regarding the cast: I had wanted to watch this initially for Jung Il Woo, and he didn't disappoint. He is good as Iljimae, truly the 'pretty girl-like-boy' as often referred to in the drama (I loved his ponytail hair).
The supporting cast is good,with many strong performances except that some secondary characters were made annoying by over-acting.
Despite all this, I didn't feel really satisfied with this drama. There wasn't so much plain fun or happy-energy associated with it.
Iljimae's character is mostly solemn/sad/serious/angry. Very rarely do we get to see his smile, let alone hear a laugh. There are so many things happening, we can near feel him carrying the burden of the world on his shoulders.
The romantic relationship is developed on realistic terms, along the sidelines of the plot.
The ending too, although happy, has a solemn, contemplative feel to it.
To sum up, although lacking in story and character development, character Iljimae in the drama 'Iljimae' evoked more happiness than the one we find in 'The Return of Iljimae'.
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There were many times where my heart was racing during this movie. Although it is not a thriller, some parts may surprise you and make you jump.
An interesting aspect of Pluto is its connection with Pluto. The reason why it is titled so is very interesting, though it only seemed to intertwine with the plot in the beginning and the end.
The cast seemed to fit well with the characters and the acting was extremely convincing.
I am glad that I watched this and would definitely watch it again.
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1This review may contain spoilers
A crime investigation with a strong theme of bromance.
Where do I begin with this series? Of course like many fans, I found out about this series on twitter and only knowing Inukai Atsuhiro. I went in and bought all of the source manga digitally. Reading the manga really excited me of what I call a mix of action thriller investigation and semi metaphoric romance between Ichirou and Shirou.The drama version of Kei x yaku is almost prefect. But because as a manga reader and knowing how good the drama could have been I can’t rate this series higher than 7.
I also have to warn that most will not like the ending. But it leaves a possiblity for season 2/movie follow up.
Kei x Yaku as a standalone drama is still very good, it’s got action, suspense, mystery but good chemistry between the two main leads.
Story
Kei x Yaku base story brings together Ichirou a public officer and Shirou a Yakuza gang leader together through one person they both know. It leads them to work undercover as a “couple” to find out the truth the story and from this unfolds into something more deep. As well as the bond between Ichirou and Shirou forming.
Acting/casting
One of the biggest positives/highlights of Kei x yaku is the cast. I have little complains (but in my ideal mind I would of casted an actor who’s the same height as Inukai). This would be my 1st introduction to Nobuyuki Suzuki in anything that he’s done, I will say Suzuki did great! He pulls off the soft but serious Ichirou, the best thing about his performance is that he can withhold his emotions in his acting.
I was more interested to see how Inukai Atsuhiro was going to act as Shirou, because I really like Shirou in the manga. Inukai blew those expectations out of the water, because Inukai is the perfect casting for Shirou and I couldn’t see anyone else but Inukai play as him. It’s amazing that dyeing your hair blond changes his whole image, but the slight gestures and attitude he displays screams Shirou. This so far is the like the best thing I’ve seen Inukai act and I would recommend 100% for Inukai fans just to watch him in this.
The rest of the cast is also very strong.
Music
I have to give a shoutout to composer Ryo Nobuguchi because the soundtrack to Kei x yaku is amazing. The main theme alone is enough to make you excited as well as 13th drums. An amazing mix of cello, violin, piano and drums. The music is one of the highlights of the show.
Positives
What I think the best thing about Kei x yaku is quality. The directing is amazing, the production is high quality, the cast/acting is amazing, and the music is amazing. Put it together and you get something like a semi action movie like drama. The 1st episode will always be the best one for me as it goes out with a bang.
I also like that the story doesn’t ignore the bond between Ichirou and Shirou, because the drama weaves in the investigation action with general scenes with just Ichirou and Shirou getting on with their lives.
Negatives
Kei x yaku honestly could have been something more special. One factor of the manga is that it has hints of showing something more between Ichirou and Shirou but the drama version doesn’t go beyond the “bromance” line. I assume it’s because they think the audience wouldn’t be able to tell what Ichirou and Shirou relationship is if they showed it like the manga. So face down the drama version is just a bromance, any BL drama fans looking for the next History Trapped this drama isn’t it.
Another factor is that the manga is WAY MORE ACTION PACKED. There’s a lot of action scenes in the manga that is gripping, I assume the drama didn’t have that much budget so these action scenes were reduced. But there’s an odd pacing to the investigation, like trial and error approach. The characters think they make progress but then they stumble and the progress they made is pushed back. There’s also way too many flashbacks to fill in screentime when they could of shown more new scenes.
Overall
Kei x yaku is a good investigation action thriller with bromance. If you are open to watching bromance then you are in for a ride! Any BL drama fans just looking for the romance I suggest to watch an actual BL drama.
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Heart-wrenchingly beautiful but with a dose of humor
This short 6-episode drama hits me with so many different emotions. It’s the perfect length to tell the story of Ram U (ML) and Hui Wan (FL). Their story was told with a combination of flashbacks of happy times (for the most part) and the present-day timeline of grief, guilt and depression.I’ve only seen Kim Min Ha in “Pachinko”, and she’s excellent in it. It was quite refreshing to see her as an outgoing and boisterous teenage girl. It’s hard to imagine she’s 29 years old, yet can play the role of a teenager and a depressed college student so well. Gong Myung has this baby face that’s so adorable as a teenage boy, and he’s actually 30 years old. They both acted beautifully and really toy with my emotions.
This drama reminded me of the best part of “Seasons of Blossom”. A similar story of grief and depression that was beautifully done. But in “Way Back Love”, the focus is just on them. They make me laugh, cringe, and cry. If you really think about it, the plot isn’t very unique. Just as I said it reminded me of “Seasons of Blossom”, it also reminded me of similar K-dramas when a Grim Reaper is involved. But the storytelling, the acting, the cinematography and the OST all work harmoniously together.
Maybe because I am in a mini K-drama slump, and this beautiful drama pulls me out of it, for that it deserves a high 9.0 rating. If you are in the mood for something heart-wrenching but beautiful, I recommend “Way Back Love”. With only 6 episodes, the pacing is great and you don’t feel it drags when its tone changes to be more melodramatic.
Completed: 4/20/2025 - Review #568
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This review may contain spoilers
Sakura and Tendo are the most lovable and cute couple that I have ever seen in a drama. Although it had only 10 episodes, I was hooked into this drama. At first I thought Sakura was extremely in love with Tendo so I thought this drama would not be so good. But as I watched this drama, I fell in love with Sakura and Tendo. Sakura was madly in love with Tendo and what I loved about her was that she was never afraid of anything. She was an optimistic and happy girl that was like a sunshine to Tendo's life. She never hesitated about her feelings towards Tendo. From the beginning she made clear that she loved Tendo and I must praise her courage to confess her love in front of everyone right after they met.Tendo's character had a huge development. I thought he would be very cold and ruthless towards Sakura but he never disrespected her. He was also madly in love with Sakura afterwards. He was really sweet as a boyfriend and was head over heels for her. At first he was hesitant to express himself but slowly he stared to express his feelings towards Sakura. He was very professional towards his job. He never mixed his personal life and work life together and that is what made him more attractive in this drama. Tendo is one of the best boyfriend material ever. It shows that destiny surely plays a huge part in your life.
Also I loved every other cast in this drama. Everyone played their part perfectly. It's hard to move on from this drama. I smiled and laughed o much in this drama. I also wanted to cry because some scenes were really touching and sweet. I loved Sakura and Tendo's chemistry. I wish it was longer than 10 episodes. But nonetheless I absolutely loved this drama and I'm sure you won't regret watching this drama. ❤❤
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The story was good, but the plot was same old same old. Some of the my questions were not answered. I like this drama because both actors loved the girl in a different way maybe more than another. The suspense was a good add to the drama, but they couldn't keep up with to the end. How the problem resolve was not resolve in a good way.
I dislike this drama because they didn't really solve the mystery and why it started was not solved. If you love the actors, I suggest giving it a try. The love triangle was entertaining and cute at the same time.
I would rematch it, but only if I am bored.
Loved the music
Overall it was a good ride, but only if the story remained good.
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It's good but...
I knew that I shouldn't have watched this one, I really wasn't planning on it, but curiosity got the best of me.Even If This world Disappears From The World Tonight, the original movie got me with that title, the poster and the two main leads, whom I fell in love with when I watched My Love Mix Up. I waited almost 2 years for the release of that one with only that information, Main leads, Title and poster.
When I first watched I thought "Oh!! 50 First Dates, but teens" It's not, well yes it is but it's better and it hits like a punch in the gut hard! despite how much it hurts I've watched more times that I can count and it hurts just the same each time. This is why although this version is quite good and made some good changes, knowing how good it can be and how much more impactful it can be I am rating it rather low, much lower than it probably deserves.
This is a good movie, I liked it, I smiled the whole way through and I am sure that if I hadn't watched the Japanese version my rating would've been much higher.
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