So disappointing.
This series started off reasonably well. It was clear from the start it was't going to be a masterpiece, but it was entertaining. But it quickly bogged down into a really negative and unpleasant mess.Ahtip and Poon have the usual enemies-to-lovers banter and conflict at first, but then they descend into moderately psycho jealousy, misunderstanding, and lashing out to hurt each other constantly. It's not fun, and there's no chemistry between them to compensate - and even if there were there's no opportunity to see it because they're always in a fight, and not the "you didn't put the toilet seat down" type of fight - it's the "you are a controlling psycho" and "you constantly quit your job and break up with me" type of fighting.
There are no less than four villains. 1. The woman who is after Ahtip, who has more screen time than either lead, and she's awful - it's so unpleasant. 2. The handsome chef from a rival restaurant. 3. Teng's weird boyfriend and 4. The OTT evil landlady. Do we need all this? Especially with two surly and unpleasant leads, and two surly and unpleasant secondary couple characters, there is just nothing bright and fun about this series. With the secondary couple, one is in an unhappy LTR but delibrately leads someone on, and that someone is pursuing someone he knows is taken and all three make themselves (and the audience) miserable. TBH, I've never gotten the appeal of BankBonus, and I'd be surprised if you do after this.
Ahtip's friend Tewit is charming, but it's hard to think much of him as he's obsessed with Amy, who is a horrible, selfish snob.
On top of that, the writer appears not to have any experience with day-to-day life, as really basic details are wrong and take you out of the story. A hotel restaurant has nobody but a head chef to clean the kitchen and nobody is ordering ingredients. Except the head chef. Landlords can cancel leases with no notice and kick out tenants, and Ahtip is such a terrible, terrible boss that there's no chance he could have achieved any success. Etc.
Even the cutesy ending fell flat - all these people were practically trying murder each other the whole series, and now they're all best friends. Amy's redemption arc was to stomp all over everyone and then with no effort or reason ends up with the richest and best-looking guy in sight. Even after he had a drunken gay orgy with half the cast, which is weird since Poon won't let Ahtip even kiss him (until he gives him a hugely expensive gift. Nice messaging there).
It feels like punishment to watch this - it's entirely unpleasant with no romance or couple chemisty to keep you going. Honestly, I'd rather watch 45 minutes of people falling into accidental kisses than watch this.
I can't recommend this at all - there are lots of bad BLs, some of which are fun. This is just joyless and dreary. I had really looked forward to this because I love Peter - maybe someday he'll be in something good.
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1) the flashbacks. OMG SO. MANY. FLASHBACKS. I ended up skipping ahead often during last few episodes but I think it didn't detract from my experience as an audience. *happy face*
2) The female lead's screaming tendencies. My friend thought she was comedy gold and loved her hilarious screams, but it personally hurt my ears. I had to turn down the volume every time she looked like she was about to yell or shout---SHE IS HILARIOUS THOUGH I ADMIT.
3) The long kisses. ... Honestly, they just need to kiss already. THEY SPENT 30 SECONDS STARING AT EACH OTHER BEFORE FINALLY TOUCHING LIPS. Wth? But anyways, that's the editor's fault. The male lead Cha Do Hyun is actually an AMAZING kisser---I blushed several times during this drama. kekeke.
4) Episodes 16--20. Let me explain: the first half of the drama were mostly comedy with some sadness hiding behind it, but the melodrama poured through starting in ep. 16. It was lined with sadness after sadness, and I literally cried until I just couldn't shed tears anymore. LUCKILY, there are still quite a bit of comedy relief in those 4 episodes---so I was able to survive and come to love it.
But despite the flaws of Kill Me Heal Me, I loved it for it's sensitivity to D.I.D., and for its array of top notched actors who slayed the drama. *v*
Ji Sung is absolutely amazing in this drama. According to what ppl have said, HE ONLY SLEPT ONE TO TWO HOURS to film this. That's true dedication. Also, you have to understand that it's very hard to portray 7 different characters, but Ji Sung managed to nail the role. The female lead was also amazing. Everybody was amazing, tbh.
I personally loved the melodrama in the end because it was realistic. DID is not meant to be funny. Childhood tragedies are also not meant to be glossed over. I'm glad this drama actually took the time to show how horrible both things are--That alone gives this drama a high score.
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The story itself is pretty straightforward, not hard to follow along but somehow I felt like it lacked substance. Even with there being mysteries and secrets, the way the story was executed never left me with anticipation. A lot of scenes felt unnecessary to the overall story; they made it seem like it was important at one time but then brushed it aside later on never touching upon it much again, let alone giving it much closure. Even found myself bored many times because of the slow paced or draggy areas, it was like watching paint dry. Instead of engaging the viewers in more fast paced action filled scenes with concise explanations, they seemed to focus more on dialogue, an excessive amount at that. Which is a shame because the only interesting parts to me were the fights and some of the training scenes.
Even though I never fully got invested in this story nor the characters, I must admit a lot of them had great character development, especially compared to the beginning when they were too immature and dramatic. The dynamics and chemistry between the Shrek Academy students were more enjoyable than the main leads! Honestly, even the "adult characters" were more interesting. My biggest complaint is the portrayal of Xiao Wu’s character, her voice & personality annoyed me throughout the show…I’m sorry, I know many loved her but I couldn’t even look at her half the time she was on screen. Her overly high pitched voice and her one expression pouty face just wasn’t doing it for me. Too naive and too clingy. Only during her fight scenes was she tolerable. Tang San unfortunately was also annoying at times but really only when he was with Xiao Wu, always holding her arm, being so overprotective and babied her so much. I understand the wanting to protect someone you care about but he was just over the top…
Thank goodness there wasn’t many scenes with music (at least not that I remember) because when there was, they NEVER played it at the right times. They should’ve played it during the action packed scenes to build up the suspense, but instead they were randomly playing it when they were casually walking or chatting…
The ending was left on a cliffhanger…i wont say much on it but regardless of what happens with the second season, I will not watch it. The only thing that kept me going while watching this was purely Xiao Zhan’s visuals and the beautiful loyalty and teamwork of the Shrek Academy as well as some their fight scenes!!
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This review may contain spoilers
This Took A Turn
I could tell this series was going to be an emotional one right away. Let's start off with the good. The series emotionally already started to get to me during the scene where our main character Tian reads Torfun's diary and sees everything she did with her shortened life. His expressions shows how he wants to change and not waste her heart inside of him now. Because he was wasting his life before and wants to do something greater, and fulfill Janes dreams. The musical accompaniment to the show is a much needed added emotional impact. It swells perfectly to the scenes. I also appreciate that they kept a big scar on Tian's chest, because a heart transplant is a big surgery. Maybe it wouldn't necessarily look that (for a lack of a better term) gnarly and painful, but some shows opt to go for "beautiful looking scars or minimal scar tissue" and that's not realistic at all.I loved the interactions with the kids, kind of like "Oxygen the Series" but better. The kids have distinct personalities and I loved the developments with them. Tian's character too is trying really hard and I appreciate it. We see him in the town too trying to get in with the locals, and help them when they are being taken advantage of financially. He brought back the scale to teach to the kids! So they won't get ripped off like their parents were, omg yes full circle.
After all like the show says; "Where we feel happy, we feel like home".
So initially when Phuapha is introduced I dug him so much. Dude saved a snail, like get outta my face lol. The drunk scene with Tian touching Phupha's face was so wholesome, they had such sweet chemistry. Their relationship was starting to gear up to be one of my faves. Unfortunately that didn't happen, because of some fatal character flaws written into the plot. Which were very uncharacteristic. These were my thoughts once Tian came clean about Torfun and basically everything: "Why are you ruining it show with the village putting literally all the blame on Tian? The rangers didn't want him to tell them about Torfun's death! This is total bs and its making characters unlikable, especially Phupha!" The random question thrown in there of did Tian kill Torfun with his car was stupid too. That would've taken away all likability from his character (luckily it didn't end up that way) and made all of his actions seem not as genuine as before because they are fueled by guilt. This was just all poorly done and it kinda ruined the final half of the storyline.
I also didn't like that they framed it like Phupha is just worried about Tian's future when he tries to convince him to leave. It's Tian's choice whether to stay at the village or not and Phupha basically was not allowing that choice at all! It's really controlling and I keep asking myself why is he leaving again? Like don't tell me what to do Phupha! Sure he ends up finishing teaching school anyway, but still how it was approached was wrong. This is another perfect example of a series that narratively starts off essentially perfect and then flops so bad towards the end with poor character writing that it ruins the relationship for me. Also Tian's mom I understood at the beginning. Her son almost died and she was being overly protective. But then she began to suck at the end. Trying to tell Tian not to become a teacher because its "difficult" which doesn't make sense because so was becoming an engineer? So it was just an excuse, she just thinks its not a reputable enough job. Then when she "agrees" which she shouldn't even have to, she forces the idea of going to a fancy school in America because her friends kids couldn't get in there. Seriously screw you!
Overall, this show is fantastic at the first half and then meh at the end. It's concept is so interesting, so it's a shame parts of it ruined it for me. The last episode was stretched out too long, but once we get the wrap up it's pretty nice. Albeit kind of cliche to end with a peck-kiss on the mountain, I felt some satisfaction from the ending. Though I was highly disappointed that we got no reunion between Tian and the kids or him and Longtae! That would've been great. The after credits ending scene too was a nice addition. Also final side-note, low-key it's mad disrespectful to have a literal ad for a car at the beginning of these episodes knowing full well the story surrounds a character getting struck and hit by a car! XD
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This review may contain spoilers
Keep in mind that I haven't read the manga. Thank you.The events of the drama:
- Two high-school boys (cousins) move in to an apartment in the same building where the heroine (lets call her Yoyo) resides. One is cheerful/friendly (lets call him Smiley), and the other is Grumpy (lets call him that).
- So the Yoyo starts liking Smiley and confesses her feelings to him. But Smiley tells her that he doesn't believe in love and breaks her heart.
- Yoyo gets all sad/weepy whenever she sees Smiley. Grumpy jumps in and comfort Yoyo by telling her that he likes her and she should become his girlfriend. After a couple of therapeutic sessions (aka kind words from Grumpy + a hair-pin gift she receives from him), she starts to fall for him and they become a couple.
- However, Grumpy's ex-girlfriend appears and he starts going out with her because -in his words, not mine- "she is weak" and needs him. So he tells Yoyo that he loves her but he still has feelings for his ex. Therefore, he breaks-up with Yoyo to sort out his feelings for his (older + has a boyfriend) ex.
- Smiley takes this chance to jump back into the game! He comforts Yoyo and confesses that after he turned her down, he realized he loved her. *ehem*
- Yoyo gets all confused and sad/weepy again. This time she tells Smiley that she still likes Grumpy but will try to get over him by dating Smiley.
- Grumpy confront his ex: "who are we kidding? you love your boyfriend, so go be with him! We both need to be with who we want to be with!" Yeah, they break-up and Grumpy (the stone-head) doesn't realize that Yoyo is going out with Smiley to forget him, so he doesn't tell anyone that he broke-up with his ex.
- Time goes by and Grumpy tells Yoyo that he still loves her and that his ex is history. Smiley spots them very close to each other and runs to hit Grumpy on the face. Yoyo tells him to stop! Smiley goes away all grumpy.
- Anyways, now both guys want Yoyo and she can't decide which one she likes because she doesn't want to lose one of them. But then Sad-Smiley tells her that he hates himself when he is with her because of all the jealousy he feels when she is with Grumpy. So he breaks up with her.
- Grumpy tries to win her back but Yoyo won't make a damn decision. Then Smiley tells her that his grandfather wants one of them (him or Grumpy) to travel and take over the family business, so whoever she wants will stay.
- Yoyo can't do it! She can't lose them! Smiley says he will go but Grumpy decides to be noble and leave because he realized that she likes Smiley more.
- In the end Yoyo is happy because she didn't lose both guys! yay! WHAT?!!!
Comment:
Yoyo is a very disappointing character. She should have moved on when from the first time both guys broke it off with her. To be honest, both Grumpy and Smiley are not that great anyways. Okay, both of them helped her when she needed to find someone to adopt a dog (she found) but that's it. There was no depth in her relationship and no real talk about family and life with both guys. Perfect for increasing blood pressure.
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No female programmers, just coz one messed up hard in the past... now just think of scenario vise-versa if it was a male programmer, then what? no male programmer rule, I don't think so. And I know this mentality sucks.. as the drama.
One might think...'Cute Programmer' is cute, sweet fluff, but other than having a cute programmer there's nothing cute or even much programming. It's rather more frustrating and torture.
The first thing that got me to take interest in drama was cross-dressing and as a fellow fan of the gender bender trope, but it is merely there like 1/5th part of the drama, and it's not the only reason for my disappointment... it is poorly done as if they didn't even put any efforts... this girl with eye-liner (clearly visible) full makeup disguises as a boy... wow I mean just wear short hair wig and baggy clothes there you go, you're a boy! Which company out there recruites employees without any documentation only on the resume? what a lousy management team from an IT company.
Okay she disguises herself as a boy (even when I'M GIRL is written all over her face), and then she takes the advice on how to behave like a boy... from a friend who is the girl (if you have watched plenty of dramas then you, of course, know what kind of 'advice' leads get from their friends lol xD here the problem was supposedly 21-22-year-old girl don't know how boy behave. I mean she doesn't have any encounter with any boy in her life lol... now on this subject, throughout the whole drama it is almost bombarded female programmer is once in blue moon thing, so I assume she must have the majority of male classmates during her college days... and in those 4 years, of course, she doesn't do anything other than studying right? that's why she doesn't know how boys behave.. #dramalogic
The story is pure trash, and definitely not made for 2021... too old, tropey, and torturous, sometimes even challenges morals. The thing is being sooo stupid and illogical, things just don't make sense wasn't the only problem... I've good endurance illogical or bizarre plots but when characters are messed up then... it's a big NO.
Lu Li other than being smart (only book smart lol) and talented in programming she is no different from our female leads in cdramas super naive, gullible, innocent... sometimes even worse. She doesn't even have self-esteem or confidence. The fact that makes me annoyed by her was for-no-good-reason she's head over heels for our male lead (who isn't even likable let lovable aside) not to forget... she loves him for a long time, now taking consideration of out MLS persona, one might thing... he must be saved her life or did something magnificent that made Lu Li blind in love, pff, no there isn't any blockbuster backstory lol, and her love or obsession towards him doesn't make any sense.. honestly shallow as he has no other qualities than being smart and handsome... I want to scream girl get a life! every time I see her lol
Yi Cheng.. ah what can I say, unbearable? his attitude sucks, even after brain wrecking I couldn't find a single thing that I like about him. He is just so childish, stubborn, rude-arrogant for no reason dude... He gets on my nerves every time he appears on the screen. He is so narrow-minded...if you're sensitive then you might get super irritated by his homophobic behavior in prior episodes.
Well, their actions make me want to punch on their face, as both characters are stupider than high school kids. I know there's nothing wrong in having a high IQ with very low EQ or not being street smart even if you are book smart... but at least give them some maturity lol, their mental age and decision-making ability aren't even par to their supposedly high IQ brain.
Where leads were more than enough to annoy me to death... voila! don't forget our bitchy sfl whose life purpose is just to destroy leads relationship, as if she doesn't have any other purpose for her life, not to forget zero consciences. Of course, her action makes you wanna strangle her. Not to forget she gets plenty amount of screen time to make our blood boil.
Even leads are poorly written what can we expect from supporting roles lol, Yi Ming is like stereotype sml flooded with all good qualities.. apart from all the mess I do appreciate the fact they didn't create a love triangle thing with Yi Ming and let him just be a good friend for Lu Li, though I wish him to run away from Zitong every time coz she is just so noisy, annoying and clingy, their story didn't make me interested coz Zitong almost forced herself onto him.
The story sucks, characters suck more... ah now just little expectations from acting. Zhao Lin is a master in such roles coz he's just the same as his past roles before... maybe a little more annoying. So I wouldn't say I've encountered his extraordinary acting skills. Oh gosh it was hard for me to endure Bambi Zhu's acting apart from her silly, poorly written character, she just can't act... even in emotional scenes I can't feel sadness or any kinda feelings from her, I also don't like when she uses weird smile during sad scenes I'm sad inside but wanna show I'm happy scenes, it gives me chills. Acting is on par level... can't save this sinking ship.
In this whole mess who bothers to concentrate on music with being busy in ff lol I didn't even notice any other song other than the intro. The production quality is okayish but the last episode's green screen was meh.
But surprisingly I stuck to it till the end... yeah just for sake of ranting about it, but this ridicules sometimes a bit vibes of makjang, can be entertaining in the purpose of bashing or making fun of it... coz it was a pleasure to write this whole rant xD
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1This review may contain spoilers
Why does Mouse have a brilliant plot? Why is Mouse a masterpiece?
**Spoiler free part**‘Mouse’ is a unique drama. It took some risks and avoided clichés. That’s why many people like it and many don't. It’s dark, raw with many murders, many killers and without any romantic aspect. If you’re more into romcoms or if you can’t bear something so dark, then maybe ‘Mouse’ isn't for you. Also, keep in mind that even though ‘Mouse’ is based on some scientific facts, it’s scientifically inaccurate (sci-fi). If that disturbs you, I'd advise you to not watch ‘Mouse’ as you’re not going to like it.
‘Mouse’ has a very complicated plot that’s a little difficult to keep up with. It’s a drama that you have to think about and not a light-watch drama. All the characters are related somehow with each other or with the main events and everything plays an important role for the plot. Thus, you have to pay attention to every detail otherwise you’ll end up being lost.
At first, you’ll have many questions and you won’t understand a thing, until the time comes and you’ll see that everything makes sense. And then, you’ll also realize that ‘Mouse’ doesn’t really have plot-twists. All the episodes were full of clues, from start to finish. Everything was predefined, but you couldn’t see it because you were blind.
Many people would think that the story is overdrawn with plot holes and maybe they drop the drama. In fact though, ‘Mouse’ doesn't have plot holes. It's a drama you have to definitely watch until the end to get all the answers and understand it, so don't drop it for this reason, keep going.
Now, to justify why ‘Mouse’ is brilliant, I’ll analyze the plot further . Those who have already watched ‘Mouse’ can keep reading. Those who haven’t can come back after they’ve finished.
*WARNING SLOILERS*
*READ THE ANALYSIS BELOW ON YOYR OWN RESPONISIBILITY*
~~~Mouse’s inspiration~~~
The writer of Mouse, Choi Ran, was inspired by the Incheon Elementary School Murder case in 2017. There, when the defendant was asked about her difficulties, she answered “The weather is nice but it’s the hardest for me to not see the blossoms”. She didn’t feel any remorse about her actions.
Writer Choi Ran wanted to write a story where a psychopath would gain emotions and feel remorse. In that way, the psychopath would be punished and atoned. Thus, ‘Mouse’ it’s not a usual crime thriller, “it’s a story about salvation”.
The defendant’s phrase was said by the Head Hunter in episode 20.
~~~The Hubris-Atis-Nemesis-Tisis form~~~
Our hero is not a typical main character. He’s not the perfect, flawless, kind guy who is fighting for justice. On the contrary, we can compare him to Homeric heroes of Iliad and Odyssey and review him according to the Hubris-Atis-Nemesis-Tisis form. With that in mind, we can separate ‘Mouse’ into 4 different parts.
1)Hubris- episodes 1-4
If someone behaves arrogantly and insultingly toward the physical, moral rules or the laws of the gods, he is considered to have committed “Hubris”. Our hero hated the Almighty. At first, he killed for revenge. But then, he killed again and again. This time though, he was considering his killings as a judgment and himself as the Almighty, above all humans and gods. He tried to transcend mortal nature, he committed Hubris.
2)Atis- episodes 4-5
Atis is the blurring and blindness of the mind. Our hero was out of control. He murdered on a live-broadcast and wrote “I am the Almighty” with the victim’s blood. That was the darkest and the most macabre part of the series. He showed to everyone how far his craziness can go.
3)Nemesis- episodes 6-7
Nemesis is a life-changer event that sets the ground for Τisis (the final punishment). Even though his plan was perfect he made one mistake. He thought he had got rid of the witness who saw him murdering but he was wrong. When he acknowledged it, it was too late. His encounter with the witness became his Nemesis.
4) a. preparing for Tisis- episodes 7-14
Tisis is the final punishment. After the brain transplant, he woke up with memory loss. During these episodes he believed that he wasn’t the serial killer but a national hero. He came face to face with killers/psychos like him. He started to hate people like them, people like him.
4)b. Tisis 15-20
And when he had hated himself enough, his memories came back. He remembered what he did, but he wasn’t proud anymore, he was full of regrets. In addition, when he committed the murders, an organization was above him, manipulating him. He was never the Almighty. His nemesis had told him “You think you’re a deity? You’re just a psychopath who was born with a mutated gene. We are lab-mice.”. Then was when he understanded those words. What an irony of fate.
Our hero had accepted the punishment and in the end he paid for his crimes and atoned.
~~~“What if we could identify psychos in advance?”~~~
If we could identify psychos in advance, then ‘Mouse’ would happen.
In ‘Mouse’ some people believed that if they could identify psychos in advance, they could create a world without psychopaths, without bad people. The OZ organization was created. They thought the end justifies the means so they killed many people. They thought they could change the world, but they killed more humans than the “psycho-gene human” did.
The “psycho-gene human” wasn’t the problem after all. It was the people’s lack of ethical compass. It was humans’ arrogance.
Did the passing of the law bring eternal peace? No. This isn’t shown directly in the drama, but it’s implied by some scenes (post-credit scene of episode 20 ~ continuation of human experiments~ violation of Bioethics laws, Mouse the Last~ assassination). That’s how ‘Mouse’ dispels the myth it created. It made us realize that being able to identify psychos in advance and eliminate them won’t make the crime disappear. Maybe a second season that deals directly with this issue would make this point even stronger.
At this point, we can make an analogy with the tale “The Wizard Of OZ”. At the end of the tale, it is revealed that the wizard of OZ, the powerful wizard who had founded and ruled the city, was an ordinary old man, a fraud. Respectively, the founder of OZ organization was a fraud, a predator and not a savior and the OZ organization is nothing more than a group of murderers and its beliefs a big scam.
~~~Why did people believe that anyone who has the psycho-gene is a killer?~~~
We know that psycho-genes exist in 'Mouse', but having them doesn’t necessarily make you a killer, only a psycho. We know that not all psychos are killers and not all killers are psychos. There's plenty of scientific research about how psychos' mindset is working in the real world and the writer tried to stay as accurate as she could to this. But despite this, history has also shown that people tend to believe in ridiculous ideas and do inhuman things. The people in the world of ‘Mouse’ aren’t any different.
From the story’s start, we see people believing that a murderer’s child is an evil monster, an upcoming murderer, that all psychopaths are crazy murderers. In other words, we see an easily manipulated crowd full of prejudiced people. Someone promised these people a utopian world without crime and they praised this idea.
~~~ “The Wizard Of OZ” and the main characters. ~~~
The OZ organization isn’t the only thing that reminds us of the tale “The Wizard Of OZ”. In fact, the main characters of ‘Mouse’ have a lot in common with the characters of the tale. Let’s take a close look and see why.
~~The Tin Man : Jung Ba Reum (JBR)
The Tin Man desired heart so he could feel emotions. JBR wanted to not be a monster. In the end, he got feelings and he wasn’t a monster anymore.
~~Dorothy Gale : Oh Bong Yi (OBY)
Dorothy was taken away from her family due to a cyclone. Thus, she began a journey to find her way back home. Likewise, OBY lost her only family. At first, she lost her grandmother and then JBR. In the end, she was alone. We can see her loneliness in the special ‘Mouse: the last’ in the lunch-time scene.
~~Scarecrow : Ko Moo Chi (KMC)
Scarecrow wanted a brain. KMC never had thought clearly after the Head Hunter accident. His mind was trapped on that day. After his interaction with JBR, his mind was free. Now he was a life-wise person and in peace.
~~The Cowardly Lion : Choi Hong So (CHS)
The Lion wanted to be brave. CHS was on the run all her life because she was afraid to face her parents. In the end she took the courage, reunited with her family and took responsibility for her actions.
~~Toto : The kitty
Toto is Dorothy’s dog and her only friend. Of course, Toto is here too, but as a little kitty. In episode 14, JBR’s nephew named the kitty JBR gave him Toto. What a funny coincidence…
~~~The dark reality of ‘Mouse’ and the meaning behind the title~~~
In ‘Mouse’ we see human cruelty in all its glory. We see vulnerable people. No one is perfect. We see good people die one after the other. We see people with good intentions killing their savior. We see mothers trying to kill their own kids. We see people dying in the name of science. We see people doing the same mistake and the story repeating itself.
‘Mouse’ is full of irony. It bothers us because, although it has the brain transplant, it feels very real. ‘Mouse’ is showing us that we are all victims of inhumanity, even a killer, even a psycho. Everyone is a “mouse”. Will we be able to escape from our inhumanity? Will we be able to avoid mistakes and not fall again like a rat in the trap? Are we sure about our actions? What if one day we wake up realizing everything we have done was wrong?
Conclusion
‘Mouse’ is one of the best K-Dramas for 2021. I won’t say that it's the best, because everyone has different preferences. What I’ll say though, is that ‘Mouse’ has the most unique story of 2021 K-Dramas. ‘Mouse’s story just hits differently and combined with the right direction, the marvelous interpretations and the on-point soundtrack created a powerful and intense Thriller.
Of course, ‘Mouse’ isn't flawless. At the end of the day, nothing is. But through ‘Mouse’ I saw hardworking people who loved their project and wanted to pass a message. I can’t ignore the details and the creativity that this show has. That’s why, for me, ‘Mouse’ is a masterpiece. Team-Mouse, thank you for not compromising the story for popularity and giving us this drama.
This was long so I want to thank everyone who took the time to read this review and I'm glad if some of you found it helpful.
If you want bonus/sources, see in the comments.
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Entertainment over quality… repetitiveness on the rise.
Don’t get me wrong though. It’s not necessarily bad quality, rather… basic? I’m gonna write a few criticisms I had with the show, but I want you to know, I still enjoyed it quite a bit - I would drop it otherwise.Starting with the short points, I will elaborate on them later.
So what’s good?
◽ The characters’ personalities and the chemistry between them. The variety of amazing interactions we’ve got depending on who was on screen was perfect.
◽ The comedy was to die for. Even if some episodes felt like fillers, I was still mostly okay with them because I got to laugh a few times. Especially any scene with the Crown Prince and Mu Deok was a comedy goal.
◽ The lore. For the first proper high budget Korean fantasy drama like this, they did quite a good job with creating a believable and detailed world. Yes, they broke some rules they set themselves, but overall, in this aspect the writing was rather consistent.
◽ The production quality. This show is simply beautiful. I have no complaints about CGI either, which is a surprise, since I always complain about some details related to it.
◽ The acting from the majority (but not the whole) cast.
What had a potential, but could be improved?
◽ The villains. While on paper everything adds up - they had proper goals, motivations, plans, enough power for it to be believable, the presentation left quite a bit to desire.
◽ Love lines. There were just too many. Cutting off half of the love lines, and exploring more the ones that are left would be a huge improvement.
What did not work out?
◽ The female characters. They told us how strong, smart, brave, driven they are, but then relegated them to be some sidekick characters or just a background for the story to unfold. Including the female lead.
◽ The present plot and pacing. Having such an elaborate lore and using so much time to explore and explain the characters and their background, sadly hurt the current plot a lot. Too much repetitiveness, too much narration and filler scenes, that, while entertaining, did nothing to move the story forward.
Getting into more detail now.
So, what’s up? It was built on extremely basic and boring tropes. And while I love everything around it, the core is still... basic. Especially in terms of Jang Uk's writing - a special boy, with his special powers and special fate. Magically learning all the magic that he needs at any given time. There are literally no real stakes with him - we know he will somehow get out of all the issues with no real long term consequences.
The worst crime this show committed was reducing the revenge seeking, confident, skilled female lead into nothing more than a love interest for half of the young male cast. Girl just gave up her goal at some point and was nothing more than Jang Uk’s maid. How sad it is, when she opened the whole show with a bang and badass fighting moves. Realistically speaking, she was a far more interesting character than Jang Uk, and yet she was pushed to the sidelines.
I feel like the drama overall failed its female characters. For example, Jin Bu Yeon was an extremely important character, and yet the majority of viewers shared the “I don’t care about the oldest daughter plotline” sentiment. What does it tell me? Hong sisters and Park Joon Hwa failed to convince us it’s worth following the story. They failed at setting it up in an interesting way and failed to show how connected it is to everything happening. Which is sad, because from the few scenes we have seen with Jin Bu Yeon, she seemed like an extremely strong, brave and worth watching character.
There is another interpretation of Jin Bu Yeon’s wasted potential - Hong sisters from the start did not care about her character and never planned for her to be anything more than just a background story. And this just makes me sad to even think about. She is literally one of the most interesting characters in terms of her story - one of the most complex backgrounds and connections, and yet she was nothing more than a background?
Honestly speaking, the majority of the characters lack the complexity and depth, but they make up for it with the extremely well written and directed chemistry. There is a huge variety of different relationships (not all romantic) that are entertaining to watch. Some of my favorites are - Mu Deok and the Crown Prince, Mu Deok and Yul, Crown Prince and Jang Uk, Master Lee and basically everyone, dumb Scooby Gang aka Crown Prince, Yul and Dang Gu.
So, we know there was a high entertainment value in terms of the characters, but also some painfully unused potential. What about the plot?
The pacing was awful. Honestly tragic. They did an amazing job with expanding and explaining the lore and character’s backgrounds, but as for the present plot - it was barely moving. We were getting closer to the end of part one, but I felt like we took maybe two steps forward, and mostly just ran in a circle. And the precious screen time was wasted on random comedy scenes (which were great, does not change the fact they mostly added nothing to the plot), romance EVERYWHERE, and side plots that a lot of viewers, me included, did not care about.
The romance? Jesus Christ, you think love triangles are annoying? Wait to see all the love lines and all the geomatics love shapes. Everyone is somehow related to everyone in a romantic way - be it past relationship, present relationship, arranged relationship, one-sided crush etc. At times I felt like the love lines were more complicated than the actual plot.
What exactly was the villain's plan? They had literally everything they wanted and needed to take over… but they didn’t. Because, reasons? They were just chillin doing the bare minimum waiting to get caught.
AoS tries to set up quite a few plot twists and big revelations, most are sadly predictable for anyone who watched even a few wuxia shows. It just follows the most stereotypical story with the most common tropes leading the way. They also kept explaining things that were already revealed and explained - the plot is not THAT complicated so I would need a constant reminder about each and every plot point.
Production quality and acting were good. What many fantasy shows fail at is the over the top, complex CGI. AoS did a spectacular job with it. Everything crafted to make the show pleasant to the eye.
Acting wise, I have to talk about Jung So Min. She is one of my favorite actresses and I knew she could deliver any role, but I was still surprised how she was able to manage so many personalities and shift her acting to fit specific scenes. I’ve also been a fan of Lee Jae Wook since his debut as Marco in Memories of the Alhambra, and knowing how diverse the roles he took so far were, I did not worry about his performance at all.
I’m also quite impressed with Shin Seung Ho. The Crown Prince was not an easy role since the character has quite a few contradicting qualities, that could seem ridiculous with the wrong delivery.
Overall, being perfectly honest, I did enjoy it for most part, but I would not recommend it. At some point I had more fun ranting about it on feeds with friends than watching. Not sure if the few entertaining scenes here and there truly make up for all the mediocre and bad aspects. I might just be biased because I love the cast so much. And since this is basically a 30-episodes long drama, is it worth it to spend 40 hours watching it just for the interesting set up?
Taking 0.5 from the rating for the fact it was split into two parts for no reason whatsoever.
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I started this one in May this year (2012) and marathoned first eight episodes at one go. Then my laptop started to have issues and I was without a laptop for last 2 weeks of May. At the beginning of June I got new laptop and watched other dramas.
Then one day I decided to get back to this one and watched 1st part of ninth episode. I lost interest to this show EVERY time I tried to watch episode nine. I tried to watch that episode for so many times that I don't even remember.
And finally this week (in August) I picked this up again and continued from episode 9. Then 10 and 11. After that I knew I would finish this in no time. After episodes 12 and 13 I was really hooked. And today I finally watched episodes 14, 15 and 16.
This drama basically is a drama that has really amazing and strong start and it gets somewhat boring in the middle. Then after episode 10 it gets really good.
If it wasn't for the strong beginning and superb last 3 episodes I would have given this 6. But thanks to those 2 things I gave this 8.
In my opinion this had a perfect ending. It was a bit rushed but I think it was still perfect. It was different from your usual romantic drama.
Watch it and let me know your thoughts ~~
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There's nothing I didn't like. I wanted to dislike the abrupt way the episodes end, sometimes mid-conversation, just fading to the OTS out of nowhere. But after 5 episodes, I started to understand the concept and appreciate it in relation to the were presenting the story. It's like one continuous movie that doesn't lose the flow or momentum despite the episode ending. Each episidoe ending is merely a slice in the whole rather than a distinct sub-portion. It gave me the feeling of placing a bookmark in a book where I'm ready to end, then picking it right back up where I left off. It's unique and refreshing.
I wanted to hate the villains, but I couldn't. While I deeply felt they were evil, I couldn't help but have some pity for them. I wanted to dislike the other-wordly feel of the ambush flashbacks, but it gave merit to the intense emotions surrounding the event. I reeeeeeally wanted to dislike the intro, but soon found myself mesmerized by it and failing to skip it. For the first time ever in dramaland, I couldn't dislike a thing.
The sets were gorgeous. The costumes were splendid, especially the headdresses. The cinematography kept you engaged and evoked even more emotion. The actors were stellar. It will be hard for me see anyone of them as anybody else other than their characters here. All of them owned their roles.
My review is vague because I feel you should go into this one fresh and gradually be dazzled. It's a beautiful series that will captivate you and redefine "friendship" for you.
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This review may contain spoilers
The Cooks Who Moonlight As Assassins
Here is the sitch. Kant is a love bombing, manipulative snitch for the police. Bison is a cheeky, deadly, adorable hitman, Fadel is a moody, no nonsense hitman who loves cooking burgers, and Style is an annoying gremlin, stalker mechanic who is unknowingly dating an assassin to win an old car. Between the four of them, someone is about to get burn, and it's sure as hell ain't the hamburgers!Listen, this drama promised a recipe for disaster and chaos, and it cooked and delivered it perfectly. This was an emotional rollercoaster and I enjoyed the ride very very well. As someone who read the novel I had a lot of expectation and they were exceed to the maximum.
CHARACTERS
Both FirstKhao and JoongDunk delivered a wonderful performance. I'm one of those people who believed after watching Hidden Agenda that JoongDunk took their acting lessons from one of them red bricks, but this was their best role yet. Dunk embodied Style to perfection, making me like that annoying character so much. So kudos to all four main cast, great job, clap clap. FirstKhao and JoongDunk were the perfect cast for this role, and it was great seeing them bring the characters to life.
BISON
So like we all agree Bison is crazy right? Sure he dresses like a middle-age divorce woman from Santa Barbara, and his adorable face makes him looks like cute a plushie, but don't be fool, dude had the personality of a ticking bomb, you never know when he was gonna blow while giving you one of those adorable smiles. LMAO, the scene where he was imagining all the ways to off Kant after he found out he was a snitch had me going, 'Damn dude, yous is a cray-cray'. No, he had one solution for every problem he came across. 'Let's kill it.' Bison's character was the most intriguing to me, so of course he was my fav, and Khao as always was great in his role.
Also, I knew Bison was batshit crazy, but he's borderline psychotic, cuz who the hell eats their cupcake muffin from the centre? And when he took Kant to use that laundry line, out there in the open? In the prison when those men were bothering him, I shook my head like, 'Ah, so you want to die this morning.' They did eff around and found out. I don't know what it says about me that the psycho with the cute face is my fav, but Bison was my fav... so.
KANT
Kant. Oh, Kant. What a giant red flag you were. Sure he did all he did so he could clear his grand theft auto charges. Which sure, who wouldn't wanna be free from the popo, but all that love-bombing in the beginning was just cruel. Plus he let his best-friend flirt with a gun firing, steak knife wielding assassin and didn't tell him. Sure, Style would have screamed 'hell no' but letting your friend flirt with someone you suspects murder people for a living is sucky. Homeboy sucks, but, snitches do get stitches, or in his case lungs full of water. He lucky Bison decided to save him in the end. Fadel would have let him be fish food.
I did like how all out Kant went when he finally realised his feelings for Bison. Homeboy even managed to find a pro-bono job in the prison just so he could be closer to Bison. Ah the things crazy people do when they are in love. I also liked how he cared for his brother, what he had to go through to give his brother the best life he could, which makes him like 16% less sucky for his snitching era, but I just remembered Bison and Fadel's heartbreak when they learned the truth, sooo taking back that percentage. I'll give him one thing though, he was brave and one lucky mfker, cuz he faced both Bison and Fadel's guns and lived to tell the tale.
KANT & BISON
Okay, but first question, did FirstKhao take a masterclass in kissing cuz... fam, those smooches were on a whole new level of eating. Now how this people go back to being co-workers/friends after these scenes? I can never be an actor cuz what do you mean, 'no we are not married, I shaved my tongue down your throat for work'. Na ah, yous is my husband now. Shit, after a kiss like the one in the empty pool or on the hammock swing, there's no way I'm leaving without a ring. Unless the police throw me for prison, I am stuck on you like glue.
Anyway, the moment Bison started doing his little inlove-ness-ness cute thing with the tissue like a disney maiden in a musical, I knew he was a goner. These two should not work, but they did, cuz they both had pasts the other understood. I'm glad they found each other, kinks and all. Cuz only two crazy people will do it in a prison courtyard behind sheets. No shame whatsoever. Oh, and that titanic empty pool scene. FirstKhao's chemistry is really one of the best in the bl industry.
I am so happy that they finally got to see the northern lights, in that episode when Kant showed a projection of it, as a way to spend one last day with him, so he could betray him the next day, I was so mad at him, like, why are you doing the most romantic stuff with the worse of intention?? Was so happy when Bison made him jump into the sea, he deserved it for that one scene alone. Though, with everything they've been through, I know they gonna last forever.
STYLE
Style can annoy a ghost back to life. Homeboy was so in love with himself and the sound of his voice, even his father found out his son has been dating a killer for the past years and he was like 'Honestly, good, only a hitman can handle your dramatic arse. Good luck Fadel, hope you can survive him.' No, but, that child was crazy. Him still taking that car he won for the bet made me love him more. Also, Fadel has the patient of a saint, cuz if I was the one who kidnapped style i'd have brought him back within the hour. Heck, I might have just turned over my weapon to him and asked him to put me out of my misery. LOL, that boy had me laughing and shaking my head. I've never met such a friendly, yet, annoying stalker like him. And I don't know what that says about me that I love him this much. No, he's so annoying, but like... he's the best. When Style showed up in his tank-top in ep1, I knew he was going to be annoying as hell, and immediately I went, yes, more please,
There were so many Style moments I love in this drama, but my fav might just be when he was kidnapped. Like he had demands, even had Fadel stop so he could purchase a better outfit to die in, cuz he couldn't die in an ugly shirt, which, sure, understandable, no one likes an ugly corpse. But he even had them attending, and officiating a wedding, wanting kisses and a good time, that bathtub scene. Nah, I'd definitely had un-kidnapped him. And like that scene at the bowling ally, boy literally forgot there was a crazy person with a weapon because Fadel said he was someone else's boyfriend. Child, this is not the time nor place. Oh, how I love his dramatic arse.
FADEL
Mr. Cool assassin who comes off as cold, but is really soft at heart, and just wanna be in his kitchen all day cooking. Fadel had a heart of gold, and the will power of a mountain, cuz the strength it took for him to not kill Style needs to be studied. That scene when he took Style to the creepy forest place, I for sure thought Style was a goner.
Of the four characters, Fadel came off as the most broken. He didn't have expectation of anyone, and he kept everyone away so he wouldn't get hurt. The boy had his grave ready. Legit, was he just gonna go off one day, lie in it, and wait for someone to fill it with soil? Lol. He felt things the most, which is why I understood him when he was being difficult in the prison when Style didn't show up to teach. He was afraid of getting hurt again. Even after they found out Style and Kant betrayed them, and he wanted to get rid of Style, he still couldn't help but care for him. All it took was him thinking Style was gonna get hurt in the ocean for him to give in. So yeah, heart of gold, probably the best of the four.
Plus he really cared for Bison. He was his whole family and he took his job as brother/mother really seriously. Which good, cuz that mother of theirs was the devil.
Naaah, let my man cook in peace, he was born to be a lover not a hitman. The scene when he almost kill Kant but was talked down, and then then went back to his cooking had me laughing. Plus every time he looked at Style with such loving eyes, ahhh, no really, lover not a killer.
FADEL & STYLE
Fadel is like one of those people who are like: 'Dear dairy, I went out today, and the humans are still there. I hate everything.' And Style is one of those people who pets random dogs on the street and talk with everyone in the park. These two are so opposite they shouldn't even work as friends, yet their love story expand years. Fadel is someone who has been hurt so much from his last love, and now guards his heart, but here comes Styles, he walked right into his heart like a bulldozer, just forcing his way in and making a home there for himself until Fadel had no choice but to accept him. No, their love was really beautiful, and I enjoy every moment of it.
They drove each other insane, in a good way. JoongDunk have also grown in the kissing department. These two used to serve fish kisses, given us basically nothing, but look at them now. No, did the four cast take a masterclass in lips locking, where? when? who is teaching it? Boss? How can we sign up for it? Asking for a friend. Cuz... literally Fadel went from 30% to 60% with just a neck kiss. Anywho, personally, I wish Fadel all the best growing old with Style's dramatic arse. I mean it took years and he still couldn't teach him any mechanic's cuz all he did was yap. And yes, JoongDunk also did really well in their roles here, and I was very impressed by how well they brought their characters to life.
PLOT
As someone who read the novel while waiting to the series to air, I knew what was going to happen. I am so very grateful, that for the first time ever the screenwriters did more to the story than the novel. This was much more better than the novel. We got more plot, Style had more personality and wasn't two dimensional and the other three had more depth as well. So thank you khun director and khun screenwriter for this.
That being said, although the plot was interesting, made me laugh, cry, and laughed some more, there were a few things that had me question stuff. Like, what the hell was up with the episode where they tried to get dirt on the Mother? Are these two really sure they're professional hitman? How they stayed alive until now? Cuz Fadel went on a stakeout with Style who wore the brightest outfit he could find, homeboy might as well had gone with a neon sign that read, 'Yes, I'm following that one guy over there.' And of course he got caught, why won't he, in that hotel he and Fadel were literally just standing by the corner, like, three steps from Keen's vision. Also whoever put that hat on Fadel's head deserves prison or whatever powder they gave the mother. The moment I saw him in that hat, I said out loud to myself, 'See head, like bucket' and then laughed so hard I couldn't breathe.
The way I was rolling my eyes when Style was able to disarmed Keen, and then at one point the gun was basically pointing at nothing. And the Mother, she couldn't spot Bison there on that golf course? Bison was literally standing like one umbrella away from her, he wasn't even in disguised, and the mother still didn't recognise/see him? Like??? And and, did Style leave to change his outfit before he went out to comfort Fadel? Priorities, am I right?
Also, during that kidnap Style scene, like was Fadel serious? Homeboy had his gun out, pointing at Style, inside an opened window car, on a busy road, full of witnesses with eyes... like, hello Mr. Hitman are you new here? What in the sorry arse kidnapping is that? It was like he wanted to get caught.
Of course there were scenes I loved: Like the scene at the beach when Bison was crying and asked if Kant was trying to lie to him again. I was a mess. When Fadel showed Style his empty grave. I was crying into my popcorn and pointing at him on my screen like 'Child, why you making people emotional on a random Wednesday, huh? When Kant kept saying Penguin. Look, personally I had more ways to add to Bison's list on how to off Kant's snitching arse, but that scene made me go, 'please, forgive him, he said penguin. Penguin, that's your thing, you can't kill him now.' Then, when style worked so hard to buy back Fadel's restaurant back for him. Our boy grew up so fast from his days of stalking Fadel and going 'Fadew, Fadew, Fadew.' Oh and the scene when they got arrested and they were both crying but Kant was trying to be strong to comfort Style. And when they were taking their mugshot, I was throwing popcorn at my screen hiccuping like 'booooo, set them free, that ugly prison outfit ain't even their colour.'
Ah, this series was supposed to be a romantic comedy but really, only Style understood the genre, the rest of the time the characters were out there making me too emotional.
So like is the Mother dead or what? These two are professional hitman, and they just left that woman sitting there, looking perfectly alive. What if she has an antidote? What if it was powder and she was bluffing? Prison softened them.
That being said, I know Fadel and Bison were like the reddest flag, dudes killed people for a living, but Kant and Style were also red flags. Cuz we have Kant's arse love bombing poor Bison, ready to snitch on him so he'd be free of his crimes, and Style stalking and disturbing a quiet gentle soul all because he wants an old car. In the end, all four really dd deserve each other.
All-in-all a very good drama, one of my favs, and a good way to start the year of bl. I'd recommend it to all bl lovers looking for an entertaining show, you won't be disappointed. Looking forward to FirstKhao and JoongDunk's next work, I am very much seated.
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I will start from positive Side couples - they have such a beautiful story . Collage friends been together for years then one fall then another . The GL couple were highlight of the show . Their acting and character development Rating = 9/10
Here i start the main part O boy is it 2005 ? I am asking again is it 2005 why the main plot is so shitty why main couple are so shitty . A fboy with naive girl who is used by others and fboy act reckless - change for her . Like didnt we leave that shit in 2010 ? What was on writer mind No character development, No plot , No love stroy Nothing people want FL with with A guy because his face is handsome Really ? If i could really give this drama Rating for Main couples its -1 /10. Never watching love traigle again so much disappoiment . Worst Drama of 2021
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many people wrote the reviews already i am just adding some facts about this series :
1. this is Ruby Lin's first series as a producer. She is an investor as well and asking many other party to join the production including HunanTV which already bought this series before it filming (also as one of the inverstors)
2. Ruby is the one who keep asking Wallace Huo to acts in this series, she said she need asking 3 times to him till he accept it (according to Wallace in his interview he said that he only had 1 month to finish this series since he using his holiday time to accept ruby invitation). Ruby is keep say Wallace Huo is the one who fit in this character (although many other actors already in her waitlist to replace Wallace, but she keep asking to Wallace Huo until he accept it).
3. Liu Kuan is the first actor confirmed as man lead months before filming starts, he knows ruby from the other series which cooperate together.
4. HunanTv is the one who need to be blame of the ending parts. It keep changing the time schedule to this series. N suddenly HunanTV announce that this series airing right after Bu Bu Jing Xin (due to high rating of BBJX Hunantv take the chance to make this series had a good rating too). but the editing team dont have time to edit right away, with the 3 eps each day mon-fri, no time to do a good cutting for the last episodes.. thats why if u watch seriously, u will feel the different plot from the beginning and the ending, at beginning it quite slow introducing one and one characters, at the end kinda rushing to finish). PLUS, HunanTV also change the total episode (it just rumour that HunanTV is the one cutting those ending episodes from 48 to 42 ep so the original one is 48 episodes >.<)
5. this series makes Ruby Lin as Best Producer in TV Drama Award in China in that year.
6. Ruby was hurt by Wallace Huo's furry cloths, her eyes were allergic to furry so during filming she was go to doctor for few days to check her eyes.
7. this series is made from a high recommend online novel. about one woman who loved by 3 Kings but she can't be the Queen forever.
I know this series isnt perfect but i do know my idol, she doing her best to this series. i dont satisfied too much to this series, but i can understand why.
Many of actors(actress) who come this series because of her. Like Wang LIn (who played as Ruby Mom in other series) said she thanks to Ruby who give her a chance to play her character so she can change her image and do have change to act with Kara Hui (both are well known actress)
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This revenge is perpetrated using an endless amount of subterfuges, traps, deceptions and secret exploiting the palace policy. Also this whole conspiracies fits perfectly in a way that is all too convincing, sometimes ridiculous, and repeats itself in a continuous loop that led me to exhaustion. The plot is therefore extremely repetitive and many times my intellect has been insulted by the author. Don't get me wrong, I love revenge and I don't dislike makjangs, so the problem here is not my personal tastes but the way this drama was written and performed. The more the plot progressed, the more I realized that it was failing in the three elements that I consider fundamental to the success of a drama: plot, characterization of characters and love story.
As I said before the political scheming is endless and it steals all the screentime, each character is used as a pawn and moved at convenience. There is no space to tell their personal story much less for character development, and this also affects the main leads. Each character stays in the same way it was at the beginning, for this reason not only I had an hard time to ship for any of them but I could easily predict their next move, taking away all the drama suspense.
Wang Yoo is often sent to deal with futile tasks, created ad hoc to keep him away from the main plot but at the same time all his actions always end up creating a favorable situation for his beloved lady ki.
Ta Hwan was the biggest disappointed, heir to the throne of Yuan is actually a puppet that is manipulated by everyone, including his beloved lady ki, too childish and afraid to react, he spends his time drinking, fainting or in bed sick, his character has no evolution whatsoever.
Empress Ki is the only true protagonist, her character is perhaps the only one to have some development, transforming from a tomboy to a conspirator. But the writer's obstinacy to portray her as the absolute "good girl"prevented me to appreciating her. She is always good, super intelligent and very good in any field and discipline, she is the heroine of the story while all the others are all bad people. Sorry but not sorry, this kind of role is not what I associate with revenge.
If all this is not enough for you, the love story is almost non-existent, the distance between this three characters, physics in the case of Wang Yoo and Platonic in the case of Ta Hwan prevented me from feeling strong emotions for this supposed love triangle and on the whole I didn't like nor support any of the two couples.
Overall Empress Ki was unable to take advantage of the excellent cards it had in his hands, a stellar cast wasted to make way for an infinite political plot that steals screentime from various interesting characters, a historical period exploited to a minimum to make room for so much fiction . And finally a revenge that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth as it is fought with ridiculous subterfuges.
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Strong beginning, flat over most the time and ridicilous story...
First let me say, I liked the second season more than the first season, even if the story did sometimes not make sense. Most of the actors improved a lot and especially the newcomer "Milk" was really great in his role.The story arc of "Alan" was a bit of a WTF moment. And the biggest minus was the pacing. There was a lot of lost time with incosequential story but not enough focus on the other couples. NorthSonic should have started much much earlier and KimKenta should have much more dialogue and not just some kisses in the finale.
So was it bad? Not really. I don't really like the script, but I like most of the acting. While "Pooh" is a nice "boy", he will never be a great actor as sofar I see it. The rest of the cast were good or even very good. Alan felt not like Alan because of his story. Don't know what the script-writers thought, but it does not work for me. The races were as lame as in the first season - I have more fun watching Formula 1. But of course the finale left some things to be desired. It was all rushed in the last two episodes and before it was partly boring and the characters "run in circles" and nothing really happenend. While Charlie is nearly dead he wakes up some time later, but we don't know when, because they cut that out completely. It's one year later and because he drives he remembers every thing... OMG, what a cliché and a point of lazy writing! And they get paid for this!
I'm not a fan of the Omegaverse and to call themselves Mama and Papa still feels cringe - and why did Mama not get pregnant, they could do that too!. The script was the mess I expected it to be (because I never had much hope for that), but overall it was an ok series compared to every other crap series Thailand produced in the last two years. So it's not good, it's above average because of the acting and the cinematography, but it's not bad either even when the script is the worst part of this show.
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