Each episode tells a different story of different people living in Beijing, from romance to horror to supernatural to just getting chills down your spine. It's skin-tingling and you want to look away, but for some reason I kept clicking "next episode" just to see how the writers and directors and wonderful actors would make my skin crawl again.
Each set of actors did extremely well, from musicians to psychopaths to people who have been consumed with greed, fear, or the thirst for knowledge. Since we only spend about 25-30 minutes with each story, it's hard to establish the depth of each character but Mysterious Summer somehow manages to go into what has caused each protagonist to do what they did. The antagonists are left purposefully ambiguous, to increase the mysteriousness and overall creepiness of the more horror/supernatural genres.
Of course, some stories are better than others, but a bad episode or two doesn't detract from the overall quality of the show.
And of course, each episode came with it's own music, which upped the ante or made me peek through my fingers waiting for something to jump out. It was thrilling.
Overall, a good watch if you're looking for a strange mix of psychological, romance, horror, supernatural, and clever acting (Furukawa Yuki is in it... who doesn't love that guy?)
Was this review helpful to you?
For the novel fans, it may be necessary to place the novel first because the drama script has been modified a lot.
And see what the series wants to convey
All characters have their origins and participate in the final case. However, the series has maintained the relationship between main actor until the end. Don't worry.
The relationships of the main actors are slowly growing.
We can see from the middle of the story.
For other elements, the camera angle is very beautiful. Light, sound, dress and props are beautiful. Action and comedy scenes are really cool in the style of Jackie Chan.
The actors have good performance. KuanHung (TangFan), FuMengpo (Suizhou) and LiuYaoYuan (WangChu). They work hard for this series and they do their best. Come to support them
Please open your heart and watching this series.
love.
Was this review helpful to you?
The amount of emotions in this drama is just insane!! (Best bl drama for me ) Beautiful ending!!
This series made me write a review for the first time ever on this platform. But like wow just wow!!This drama literally is the best example of a nontoxic, mature relationship. This is the type of series that just needs one season to be enough and tell everything it has to say because it just fit and it's so goddamn good made. It had me giggling and smiling like a fool from the beginning to the ending. For the whole series, we never heard Tian and Chief Phupa said the word “I love you”. However, you could feel it in every scene: the way they made us laugh, cry and feel the pain. This made ATOTS not just one of the best BL dramas, but also one of the best Asian Dramas of our generation.
I cried and I laughed and now I'm going to rewatch the whole series cause the way I got attached to every single character in this drama is unbelievable!!!!
it's just been 15 min and I miss them like a crazy TT TT
Was this review helpful to you?
What was good:
- The male lead (Kim Hong Do) suprised me... he looks kind of like any old "ahjussi", but in the end he was very charismatic and he depicted the character's ambivalent feelings well.
- There are many female-pretends-to-be-a-man instances in Korean dramas that are quite ridiculous, but this time the female lead (Moon Geun Young) could be mistaken for a young boy. It brought additional realism to the series.
- The romantic story arch is very slow and mostly only hinted at. Although I love dramas bursting with romance it was refreshing to still understand the characters feelings without much even going on between them (almost none of the old drama clichés).
- It was interesting to see Korean art. The series was very similar to "Goddess of fire" in that there was much attention to detail and you actually felt that the characters were painting these pictures right before your eyes.
What was not so good:
- The female lead (Moon Geun Young) is a very good actress, but I had just watched "Goddess of fire" before watching this and I was struck by the similarities of the female characters she depicted. Of course similarities in storyline would also make you feel that, but still I felt she could've have done more with her character. Still keep in mind she is one of the better drama actors, so I have higher standards for her.
- Besides the romantic story arch I was not very interested in the story. A lot of scenes were boring (although necessary) backroom discussions among nobles trying to one-up each other. This is most likely why I didn't give the series a 9.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Left Breathless
Okay so I NEVER write a review for a drama I'm still watching but I have to make an exception. GO AND WATCH THIS DRAMA IF YOU HAVEN'T!!! Who needs romance when you've got a fiery priest, a crazy woman, a rapper lady and a silly detective???? Nobody that's who. I just finished episode 26 and the last scene with Song Sac doing Muay Thai on the bad guys gave me life ahhhh, It's the reason I'm writing this review.STORY: Let me start by giving the writers a standing ovation. The story is genius, yes It takes sometime to get to the synopsis but even the build up to it is amazing, not a single moment of boredom! I dare you to skip lol. I don't know but I - just like a lot of the other viewers- think this story has to be referencing the Burning sun issue. There's a lot of similarities and even if it has nothing to do with it, let me say kudos to the team for bringing this issue into light. Also that one scene where they referenced Reply 1988 with Ryong and the detective really had me rolling lol.
ACTING: WOW! Could Kim Nam Gil get any finer? He manages to draw you into his emotions, you start believing that everything is real. Honey Lee also, I've loved her since I watched Rebel and even if her character was sooooo infuriating at first, you managed to crack up whenever she did something silly. The whole cast is amazing. The villains/Antagonists make you hate them so much and the Heroes/ Protagonists make you love them.
MUSIC: Honestly the only OST I've really paid attention to is the one with the rap, that aside the two BTS songs that were briefly played - Fire and Idol - and the Honey bgm that plays for Honey. Still I rate the Music a 10 in general lol.
OVERALL: This is a must watch, yes I haven't finished watching but I know I'm not going to be changing my rating lol. I'll edit this after I'm done with the drama.
EDIT: Just finished it and I was right, this drama did not fail my expectations. Thank you to the team for bringing us this gem and like I said earlier, EVERYONE should watch this!
Was this review helpful to you?
"Hiyokko" is a drama that speaks of a rural Japan in the Olympic age of 64. A drama that adds cultural values to a story rich in details told by an acting cast aided by a beautiful soundtrack and flawless cinematography. Instead of having complex and fanciful themes, "Hiyokko" stands out for its simple and classic history with a focus on everyday life. As it says: Happiness is in the simple things of life. Good Drama!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
best of 2021, best of "romcom"
tbh I'm not a fan of romcoms, or romance genres in kdramas, and it's not because I look down on them, but they're always so repetitive, and that's why this show was so greatit had a normal meeting, normal relationship, flawed characters, crushes, heartbreaks, goodbyes, new meetings. it was not "destiny", it was not "perfect", there were no evil mother in laws, no orphans, no poor fl/rich ml, no corruption, this was a slice of life romcom~
yumi had a job, she was independent even though she easily let love "change" her values. but as time went on she learned and grew.
the "evil" 2fl was not a random force trying to break them up, there was history, reasons and conclusions
also, woong was not loved by everyone just because he was the ml xD usually the jerkest of the jerks have their own fanbase and no one can complain about their many flaws, but here people accepted it
and, the people who criticized him learned to love him and get heartbroken in the end ;) he was not bad, he was not selfish, he was naive and inexperienced just like everyone else. he had his dreams and he wished for love, he just didn't know how to balance them and that's so relatable
I'm actually sad this ended so fast, I hope s2 comes out fast ;(
I've always wanted a show where the ml wasn't set in stone, and thanks to a spoiler that was thrown at me, I know the 2nd season won't be cut and paste either xD
this, this actually is kinda like How I met Your Mother xD you don't know who the "husband" is and that's fun, not for 7 seasons, but it's fun and new
tbh, since it is seasoned and there needs to be a "finale" the last ep was meh, but I just loved the whole journey. also the ost was lit, it had gaho after all~
Was this review helpful to you?
acting is good but you should bare jerry yan for the first 3-4 episode but he improve to be a magical actor later. shan ci is the best amoung the three version and you belive that a man could crazyly fall in love with her. more side stories and charecter which gave us time to ubderstand and enjoy the story better. domioshil is a crazy lover but in a good way here. I know japanese version oguri shun was so (extraordinary) bewildering but Zhou Vic is kind and warm. then I guess you should give this a chance.
it's funny because now domyushil image in my memory has changed from Matsujun to Jerry yan.
Was this review helpful to you?
Boring and dull story, but Dai Gao Zheng is... yummy :D
The storyline might not be the most gripping, and while Dai Gao Zheng’s acting skills still have room for growth, there’s no denying his on-screen presence. His looks alone are enough to steal the spotlight and keep me hooked. Let’s be honest, sometimes you watch for the plot, and sometimes you watch for the view—this is definitely the latter! 😏Was this review helpful to you?
The filming angle is particularly accurate when portraying "vertigo" from the female lead's view point. Also great music that heightens moments of hopelessness and depression.
Chun Woo-hee carried another big role after Han Gongju, and she totally delivered. I have always been her fan, and although she had more famous projects like The Wailing/One day/Argon/Be Melodramatic, I still think this is her BEST role to date after Han Gongju. Hope the film can get Eng sub soon, and I really anticipate her next films to get released (Anchor, Rain and Your Story)
Was this review helpful to you?
SWEET AND HIGHLY RECOMMEND
This drama is my FAVOURITE now, it deals with friendship, family, college, career, love and everything. Every episode is bitter sweet with a lesson at the end and it makes you want to do better and live better.The 4 girls are absolutely different in every aspects yet they stick together and solve every problem they come across even though they constantly get discouraged, fail at the end they make it or take it as an experience.
Fan Xiaoyu is the glamorous rich one among the lot but you can see her struggling with life and trying to be independent, she have too much confidence in herself its both her advantage and disadvantage and she's hella loyal and supportive of her friends but she's self-willed resulting in chaos. Xia Langlang is the tomboy and she have another outlook towards life, it seems like she's the one with more knowledge about society and knows what to do in situations since she was forced to grow up too soon, though she herself is stuck too sometimes but she don't quit either.
Yang Jiaqian aka big sister is the nerdy one with idealistic views and righteous attitude, she never steps out of the line of her morals no matter who is at the receiving end. She prevents fights from breaking out and keep everyone together. She may seem meek with her protective attitude and shyness at times. Huang Fu Shumin is the little princess of the group and she really live upto that, born in an overprotective family, she don't quite know to fend for herself and she may annoy you during the beginning but she is the one with more character development. She's kinda childish, dramatic yet pure at heart, do the best for people around and the blunt one.
All of the main leads have some sort of family issues and none of them is more serious than other and them dealing with it gives us an insight about their lives and others who go through same.
OST- All the songs in this drama are so touching and the songs itself have a sweet emotional feeling and 10/10 for that.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND, YOU ABSOLUTELY WON'T REGRET WATCHING THIS.
Was this review helpful to you?
ACTING/CAST: Cute cast and I'm a fan of Gun (Poonsawas Atthaphan) so kinda biased. They did a nice job. The kissing was kinda amateurish and juvenile, except for one midway through that I can't spoil for you.
MUSIC: I liked the music, especially the one for the credits. No song was English subbed in the version I saw.
REWATCH VALUE: Yes, it's cute with a sappy ending. I'll watch it again with a friend, and probably again just to watch the cute actors, especially Gun.
OVERALL: Cute BL romcom that can be slow paced but safe (nobody dies, no major catastrophes, etc). Only thing that annoyed me is that they've been together for a year now and Gump is coy about being kissed (unless drunk)? Bah.
NOTE: In the bundled special edition, DVD 2 contains a photobook (24 pics), an interview, music video, teaser, and trailer; only the trailer is subbed. The MV is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE! SQUEE!
Was this review helpful to you?
The story is of a woman whose father left her all his gambling debts. After running away and living like a homeless person she eventually meets a billionaire who runs a company. He agrees to pay off her debts if he marries her and becomes "mother" to his six grown adoptive sons. I think its absolutely hilarious, Even though the plot can be a bit silly its still somehow believable. This drama is great. Its got a really good mix of emotional scenes and comedy. It had me laughing and crying but mostly crying with laughter!
All the acting is great, three of my favourite actors in one drama? yes please. Horikita Maki is really good as always and Yamamoto Yusuke is just his usual crazy self.
Was this review helpful to you?
The biggest no homo BUT it’s a masterpiece.
I’ve read the novel and got concerned at how they will adapt a show that has gay romance as the core plot of the story, however, I was shocked to watch this show and discover the bromance which somehow passed the censorship. Though they never disclose the fact that they are in love with each other, the show directors filmed in such a way to show the close relationship between the two main characters without making it straightforward. After you watch it, you can clearly say “they are in love” rather than a scope of friendship. It’s simply genius. Such a soft bl, I was smiling so much during lan and wei’s moments. I am absolutely obsessed with this show that I watched the anime, read the novel and rewatched this show about 6 times. Not a single regret and would recommend this drama to everyone.Was this review helpful to you?
My guess is that Kim Sun Ah meant to play Jenny Jang as poker-faced and cold-blooded, but instead, she came across as robotic and with such an emotional backstory and such a fast-paced and plot-twisting story her being emotionless for the majority of the drama, besides a few restrained crying scenes, got old really quick. I felt like she was going for a similar vibe to Jang Hyuk as Pil Joo in "Money Flower" (which I LOVED) but he had so many emotions that were always noticeable right below the surface while Jenny Jang just seemed like she was on depression medication from the first episode until the very last episode only occasionally looking slightly shocked when something didn't go her way, or smirking and sneering slightly when pleased. Luckily so many of the other cast members are really exceptional and they are what kept me interested enough to keep watching.
If I had to choose a favorite character I would be torn between Jang Mi Hee and Park Hee Bon. Both of their characters are far from likable but their greed and ruthlessness were addictive to watch.
Jang Mi Hee is praiseworthy as the head of the Deo Group Kim Yeo Ok who puts success in her business before anything else, including her family. I loved watching her devious smile as she crossed lines no one would ever expect anyone but a sociopath to cross. Great villains are my favorite and she definitely falls into that category. If Jenny Jang had more of a personality and was less passive-aggressive their scenes could have been so much better but Yeo Ok's performance still shines. I also loved Park Jae Young as the Deo daughter Ye Nam. Her irrational greed and jealousy were so frustrating to watch that I wanted to reach through the screen several times and shake the hell out of her. I'm not used to seeing her as a villain type instead of the "quintessential bff" but she was perfect in this role. She didn't just play up her annoying and whiney characteristics but I also empathized. Even if I didn't like her I cared about her story and at times pitied her. I also loved her rivalry with Jenny even though she also carried the emotional weight in their scenes together too. I hope to see her in more roles as a main character.
The next characters that deserve praise are Kim Jae Young as Sun Woo who takes loyalty to the ultimate level, and the determined and strategic Go Min Shi as Lee Hyun Ji. I really loved their performances and complicated relationship. The scenes where they get to know each other better were some of my favorites in the whole drama. Jae Young nails Sun Woo's puppy-like loyalty but also his bad@ss qualities, and I found myself rooting for him much more than Jenny. I think that's because unlike Jenny he had moments where he was vulnerable and human, and that along with his backstory gave his character a lot more depth. I also loved that Hyun Ji was seemingly innocent and idealistic but usually one step ahead of everyone, and I liked watching her character evolve from being used to using others. I know Go Min Shi from one of my favorite dramas (The Smile Has Left Your Eyes) and I look forward to seeing her in more dramas. I think these two deserved way more screen time together, and their chemistry and storyline kept me interested when the rest of the plot lost some of it's spark. I wouldn't call the dynamic between these 3 a love triangle (or love square if you include Kim Tae Hoon
as Jung Hyuk) since there really isn't any romance in this drama, but it's more about devotion and support for each who they love with each character dealing with their own form of unrequited love.
The rest of the cast was good too but I wonder how much more I would have liked their performance if they got to play against a main character with more of a personality. The plot is also pretty fast-paced for the most part and has a good amount twists but as the drama went on things started to get more repetitive and less interesting until I was ultimately bored and no longer excited for the next episode to come out. Still, many of the twists are really well done, especially the first major backstory reveal which was jaw-dropping. And I didn't love the ending but the ending does make sense and wraps the story up pretty neatly, although it felt a little rushed even if I was definitely ready for it to finally be over.
Another petty complaint I have is that the "Secret Boutique" this drama refers to is mostly a glorified office and not worthy of inspiring the title name. I wish I could see more of the Boutique in action. Maybe that would have made the fact that Jenny built it with nothing more interesting too.
Would I watch this again? Maybe. I'm not sure if knowing what is going to happen would help me lower my expectations enough to like it more or just bore me for the second time. I would be curious to see if I missed anything since there are so many elements to this plot, but watching Kim Sun Ah's lackluster Jenny would probably be even less interesting the second time around. It also doesn't help that I didn't love the ending. Meanwhile, Yeo Ok is such a fascinatingly sinister character that it might be worth it just to watch her in action again. Who knew that stroking a cat and drinking tea could be so dramatic!
Overall this is a standard ruthless rich family power struggle makjang flavored with revenge that started off strong but just couldn't keep up the momentum. This really is the worst family ever on so many levels, which I found to be extremely entertaining, but because it centers around a female lead that I became indifferent to it's hard for me to recommend this drama without that warning. There's still enough to the story that I would recommend it to people who like rich family melodramas in general, it's still probably better than most in that genre in many ways, especially if you binge-watch instead of waiting on episodes as I did (which kept getting delayed). If you enjoy watching people casually do the most heinous things in the name of greed and power then there is plenty of that. I liked that I was never really sure who the good and bad guys in each situation were. It's also beautifully shot, like a film, with some scenes being visually stunning and haunting at the same time. As Aalia's Masquerade played for the final time I realized that this drama did deliver on what it was trying to do, even if I did still feel let down. Some viewers may also like Sun Ah's performance way more than I did, so it's definitely worth watching to judge for yourself. I think of this as Money Flower lite, which isn't a bad thing. It's also good to see such a female-dominated plot in general, with all of the men playing supportive roles to the women in this drama. This drama may be guilty of a few tropes but it being a female-centered drama around business and power is refreshing and unique. That alone may be enough of a reason to watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
