A Fresh Plot and Solid Actors
As to be expected, Kim So Hyun has picked another great script and delivered another great performance. “My Lovely Liar” stands out in a year of, in my opinion, slim pickings for dramas.Pros:
• Our leads were just plain excellent. I am a huge KSH fan; the girl just always knocks it out of the park. But this was a new style of character for her. Loved it. Min Hyun, on the other hand, nailed it too. I loved him in “Alchemy of Souls”, and I adored seeing him as a lead. The characters were excellently written and excellently acted.
• A fresh plot that is paced well to keep you wanting more. The mystery kept you guessing till the end, and the romance was dynamic and real. Loved it.
• The romance is adorable. They have the cutest chemistry ever. They look like they just plain love being together. They were unbelievably cute. Not to mention: NO RIDICULOUS BREAKUP. That is always a win.
• Super satisfying ending!!
Cons:
• Overall, except for some exceptions, I felt the supporting cast was pretty weak character wise.
• The first three episodes, in my opinion, are pretty slow and kind of hard to wade through. But I’m glad I did.
• They were together for the last six episodes but we only got two real kisses out of all of those episodes. Would have liked to see their chemistry, which was great, better explored.
Overall, it’s a great watch, one you don’t want to miss. It has romance, mystery, comedy, and more all packed into one show.
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This review may contain spoilers
Drama Queens: A Cosplay
I asked two friends of mine, both old-school drag queens, and both with excellent make-up skills, to watch Cosmetic Playlover. Here is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for clarity.MANI: Is this for real? This show?
PEDI: What do you mean?
MANI: Did we really just watch a Japanese BL about two gays behind a Sephora counter?
PEDI: Who knew? Who knew they had such dramatic lives?
MANI: What dramatic life? Apart from whatever’s going on with Natsume’s hair?
PEDI: That *is* a disaster, isn’t it? He stares at a mirror all day long... Did it not occur to him, at least once, to think, "hang on, my wig looks like it was sheared by a British dentist"?
MANI (laughing): The tall one, Toma, is it? His ain’t much better. But he’s so gorgeous that he can get away with it. He can get away with anything.
PEDI: He does.
MANI: By the way, in what world does a former supermodel work behind a makeup counter? Can you imagine Naomi Campbell working for Chanel at Macy's or Harrod's?
PEDI: Or Romy Féerique... Fun fact. Féerique is French for fairy.
MANI: Now why would you know that?
PEDI: Because I’m a fairy, Mary.
MANI: Well, I'll tell you one thing, I'm not sure these two fairies deserve their own show. They are not funny, they are not sassy, they don't gossip... I'm sorry, but these are not interesting people. Beautiful, but not interesting. They take themselves way too seriously. And the show takes itself way too seriously.
PEDI: I mean, could the stakes be any lower? Let's face it. They're not neurosurgeons. Do you think the Gucci girl behind the counter has the time to take clinical notes on each woman who comes to her for free make-up? Also, silent callers? Hate mail? What is this, 2006? All because Ms Dimple Cheeks “poached” a “make-up client”. Who is this client? Sultan of Brunei?
MANI: If he did poach him, he’d be doing us all a favour. By the way, I don’t remember us taking an exam to become a “make-up expert”. Do you?
PEDI: Ummm, yes we did. Remember when we first went out in drag 20 years ago, and no one punched us in the face? That was the exam.
MANI (laughing): Do people in Japan really take make-up this seriously?
PEDI: The straight women who wrote this thing do. I’m absolutely certain... certain... that whoever wrote the manga wrote the first draft by imagining herself as the female lead, and then replaced herself with Natsume.
MANI: Which, I think, is how most BLs are written.
PEDI: I don’t think we, as drag queens, are in any position to judge that.
MANI (laughing): No, I will say though, I was surprised by the heat levels in this show. The kisses were quite hot.
PEDI: Yes. But the villains were not.
MANI: Except for the one skinny guy who now makes a regular appearance in JBLs. He’s in Smells Like Green Spirit, and that teacher-student BL. Whatchamacallit?
PEDI: I know who you mean. He’s good. He served some real camp goodness. He's very good. And hot.
MANI: Toma’s brother?
PEDI: Not.
MANI: Remind me again, why does he come between the leads?
PEDI: I... don’t know. I don’t remember. Something about their parents being in New York, and wanting him to run the family business... Listen, mama, there’s more drama between my fake eyelashes than there is in the entirety of this show. Here’s the thing. If I was a hot Japanese ex-supermodel, and my family lived in New York, I’m taking Ms Dimple Cheeks with me, getting gay married at the Plaza, and buying an apartment in Chelsea.
MANI: Are you kidding? You’ll be catnip for the polyamorous gays. Sniffies will crash.
PEDI (laughing): Exactly. These two though, they wanna play husband and wife in Tokyo. The vibe is very old-school JBL...
MANI: Ah, the monologues, the monologues... Because, you know, characters in JBL don’t believe in talking to each other, but they’ll happily talk to us, invisible people.
PEDI: Yes! And then with the pushing against the locker, the cartoon villains, and the "oh, but I'm a shy maiden" bullshit...
MANI: Again, because if there’s one thing we know about same-sex sex in BL world, it is that bottoms don’t want tops to top them…
PEDI: See, I don’t get that. I can't think of a single bottom in my life who won't jump on a hot top when he sees one. Hell, even a mediocre top! I don’t get that whole patriarchal “you belong to me” crap either.
MANI: I thought that went out with All About Eve.
PEDI: This is All About Steve.
MANI (laughing): I don’t mind the old-school vibe though. It’s fun. Loved that kiss against the background of fireworks... Ham-fisted symbolism? So sexy. Also, I kept imagining myself as Sponge Bob Hair Cut, and wanting to be pulled and hugged by the hot one and have my lips smashed. If that tall slice of meat were to come up to me and say, “you belong to me”, I’ll throw myself at him.
PEDI: Except you’ll cause an accident with those fake boobs of yours...
MANI: What if it turns him on?
PEDI: That means you've died and gone to heaven.
MANI (laughing): This show is absolutely ridiculous.
PEDI: And hot.
MANI: And ridiculous.
PEDI: And stupid.
MANI: And ridiculous.
PEDI: And surprisingly watchable.
MANI: Do you think Netflix will pay us to watch BLs like they do Trixie and Katya?
PEDI: Only if it’s a podcast.
Reader's Digest:
DO SAY: Maybe she's born with it.
DON'T SAY: Maybe it's Maybelline.
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The best thing by far about this drama is the characters. Nearly every single one will make you fall in love with them (and also probably make you cry at some point), which is no small feat because there are quite a few important characters in this considering how short the drama actually is. I was so in love with so many of the characters by the end of the drama that I felt a tiny bit robbed to not know how every single one of their stories played out.
Be READY to fall in love with Luo Fei Fei, Bei Tang Tang, Xie Yan Ran, Chu Shang Nan, and Bai Wu Chen (and probably quite a few others).
One of the things I loved most about the characters was that you get to see so many different and fun relationships develop between all the characters, it's not just the leads that you watch grow and fall in love. There are multiple love stories, wonderful friendships (the friendship between the leading lady and the second lead lady is AMAZING), and great family and imperial relationships.
The story itself was really interesting, not a concept I have ever encountered before and it develops in a really interesting way. Though time travel is a common concept in dramas, the zodiac element made this one different. There is a ton of romance and comedy, I laughed (and giggled) a lot, but there is so much else as well, the fantasy plays an important role in the drama which I haven't always seen in every drama so that was great.
The beginning of the drama was a little rough (there were some very awkward or cringe-y bits) and some of the actors took a few episodes to stop being stiff and start being likable (which, given that it's an idol drama, wasn't shocking) but the leading lady is so adorable, funny, and cute that you pull through and it's worth it for the way the drama develops as you really get into the meat of the story.
The things that stop this drama from being just fantastically fun and fluffy, aside from the rough beginning, are the ending, which left me wanting and left a pretty big question mark, and the incredibly annoying minute or two of EVERY SINGLE EPISODE where they were literally just advertising face masks and it was just shoehorned in SO badly. But skip through those and it's bearable.
Even though the ending left me more unsatisfied the more I dwell on it and the beginning was a little rough, the interesting story and the fantastic characters made me really enjoy this fun little drama. It's fluffy and fun and cute and it will make you smile (and probably cry sometimes too).
My overall rating is higher than my rating breakdown because it kept me so interested and so many of the characters stole my heart. It's not perfect, the ending especially, but overall this drama made me smile so much.
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This review may contain spoilers
So.. I was wavering whether I should write a review or not as I'm really bad at expressing my opinion.. also it seems that most of the reviewers had positive opinions about this drama... but.. I'll try..To begin with, this drama had a lot of potential when it started airing. At first I didn't think that the cast for this drama was chosen wisely, but I was soooo wrong. All the actors were just amazing, and they suited their characters very well. The story was so captivating that it'd could have been used for a block buster movie! Cameramen did a great job too and the music added the thrill to each scene
BUT
it all changed. From a possibly block buster it went down to the amateur level after ~10/12 episodes (I'm talking about the writer's choices and the plot only). It became boring, lame and ridiculous. I hope this is not a spoiler but... come on!... A psycho serial killer going out from and back in to the jail like it was a hotel or something... A detective with a mentality of a 5th grader, getting himself into troubles wherever he goes... and many more....
I have to admit that after 15th episode I watched this drama just to finish it, just to see the ending. I'm not even counting how many dialogues or crying scenes I've skipped... And the ending... it was a huge disappointment...
They could have made and awesome drama with 16th episodes, but they were greedy and stretched it out to 20th. That was a mistake in my opinion. A mistake which ruined everything..
Anyway, if you want to see how bad can writers fail when they're greedy for the spotlight.. you can watch this drama.. otherwise... it's a waste of time :/
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Outstanding adaptation! Worth the watch!
Although I started watching this drama for my favourite guest and support actors, surprisingly I was entranced by many brilliant and talented actors/actresses especially the ML ZYL and the FL LSS. Even though I knew the major plot and the ending for this drama, it didn't deter me from finishing this wonderfully executed and very captivating drama.All the characters were portrayed impeccably well by the actors. Theirs elaborate appearances added fine details to their characters. Deep emotions, passion, feelings were displayed immaculatelly and their stories unfolded magnificently well, leading the events and results to the point where everything is set perfectly for the season 3.
I adored the beautiful and elegant clothes and make up of the actors and actresses. The backgrounds and settings were very suitable to scenes and events. Unique architectures magnified the effectiveness of making each setting different and enjoyable experience.
I loved different kinds of couples and their interactions. All the couples have different stories to show and their own undeniable and captivating charm. Each couple had great chemistry. The types of romances shown were very beautiful and engaging: like HZ and HYs romance of push and pull due to their identity and responsibility, different ways of doing things, Spider king BMY's protectivness and selfless acts of care for DNJ and his people, YY and MXW's story of Romeo and Juliet where family interfered and made things difficult for them, the confusing love between MM and the leech demon CML's with two personalities, YYT and WZ being childhood sweethearts, the dark unconditional love with no boundaries between JH and JL, the kind/forgiving love between DCR and JJX knowing the motive they got together, the QMY's unwavering persueing of love and relationship with ZZ and finally, LQZ's cute and hesitant unrequited love for DQL. Although they were all different kind of romances they have one thing in common they loved the other deeply selflessly enough to be ready to sacrifice anything even their lives to protect and save their significant others. Being able to do this is a testament to the real and true love.
Aside from love stories, I was also impressed by heart warming and sweet sibling and parent/children relationships.
This drama taught many lessons. Love and life is not bed of roses. Most people face ups and downs with their loved ones. More so if their world is plagued with societal injustice and chaos. Furthermore, life is even more difficult for people with conscience and power who take their responsibilities and duties more seriously putting their personal lives at the bottom of priority list. Mostly prosperity and peace in different places around the world is achieved by sacrifices of their great heroes/heroines.
Their are always people who commit evil deeds and justify them due to their greed, obssestions, love for fame, power and/or glory and have to be fought to stop them. Without love, kindness, loyalty, trust, sacrifice, strong positive familial bonds and establishment of justice and order world would be very dark place. Those who are left behind of course have to learn to deal with grief and regrets but important thing is never to give up and respect their sacrifices and work for the better future and even if there is uncertainty there will be good change when righteous path is persued.
The CGI and cenimatrography of this drama was mind-blowing. The attention to detail, photorealism, seamless integrations, lighting and texturing not only gave a compelling visual experience, it also effectively communicated the sub stories and emotions. Thus, successfully engaging the viewers and leaving an everlasting impression.
I loved the beautiful and exquisite OST's which are very heartwarming, thought provoking and emotion stirring.
Overall it is very excellent fantasy drama adopted from manhwa. I highly recommend it to romance/fantasy lovers. 💕 Definetly looking forward to the season 3 'Sword and Beloved'💖
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So many of the things that I really enjoyed about the drama came to an end around episode 15 with still 35 more episodes of almost nothing really important.
There were so many scenes where the main character just stared "meaningfully" at the camera, or into space, or at each other.
The main character Princess started off as a strong willful and fun character, but then just fell into this "ugh" phase where all she did was act like every other woman in Joseon. I was so disappointed by her. Over all the acting was sub par and the story just got dragged out more and more. Then the "special armory" people who didn't even have a real role would just show up in a scene sitting and talking to each other like they had so much free time, it was so unrealistic. I really like King Gwanghye and the actor in that role but he is not in it long enough, it would have been really interesting if they had made it more about him than her, and King Injo.
It ends with them trying to pull at some heart strings but it just doesn't work, mostly because by that point I was just irritated with all of the characters I didn't see a reason to care. Over all I would not suggest this drama to anyone.
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Its a beautiful story of a hard working king, whom loved his people with his very life. He is truly one of Korea`s greatest ruler. Yi san tells the story of King Jeongjo, or Yi San, the 22nd ruler of the Joseon Dynasty, revered in Korean history for his championing of democratic rights for the Korean people, and for his bureaucratic reform, Be advice the ending is very sad:'(
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Amazing acting…Great directing/editing/writing…Beautiful cinematography…Superb production…Mesmerizing OST…even the clothes were noticeably beautifully designed.
Seamless interweaving of Romance, Politics, History, Action and drama, yet all very easy to understand!
Filled w/ many memorable well-developed characters... including the courageously steadfast Se-Ryung, one of the best characters in Dramaland, and certainly the most amazing female character!...wonderfully portrayed by MCW!
Awesome performance by Park Si-Hoo I can understand all his thoughts & emotions through his eyes- from the charming, easy-going teacher to the tortured soul caught between Love and Revenge!!!
Surprisingly, one of the best romances I have ever seen… I have seen it several times and will, no doubt, watch it again in the future.
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ACTING/CAST: I felt as though I could relate with each and every actor/actress. No matter what role these people had, they were able to convince me that they were in fact, that character. This drama will make you emotional. There will be times where you WANT to flip tables, cry, d'awh, etc.
STORY: I made the mistake of starting this drama while it was airing. The cliff hanges after every episode made me want to rip my hair out, literally. I wanted to know what was next!! GAH! I basically marathoned like the first 8 episodes in one day. OTL Anyway, the storyline will most definitely keep you interested. If you enjoyed Innocent Man with Song Joongki x Moon Chaewon, get ready to fall in love with Ji Sung and Hwang Jung Eum.
MUSIC: The music was beautiful. I felt like crying at some parts. Sorry, I'm such a softie. Derp. /) ~ (\
REWATCH VALUE: If you need a buddy to cry, punch walls, flip tables with, etc while watching this drama, I'm your girl. Hit me up. It's THAT good. ;D
OVERALL: WATCH IT NOW WOMAN/MAN/WHOEVER YOU ARE. I promise you will NOT regret it. If you hate it, I'll take full responsibility. (okay, maybe not FULL, but srsly go watch it now. :DD)
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"It's not that I've fallen in love again. I've never stopped loving you."
All These Years is a beautiful film about two young people finding the very best version of love and helping each other grow through life's hardships, family's expectations, distance and time.The script is tight, coherent. Beautifully sad and hopeful at the same time. The characters well rounded with very real problems based on actual contemporary issues, such as social classes and expectations based on gender, which makes it even more heartbreaking. You understand the decisions they are making are the best option for each other, even if it means being apart. Still, their love always makes them cheer for the other to become the best version of themselves.
Sun Qian and Zhang Xin Cheng's chemistry in INSANE. Like, DAMN! Not once I didn't believe in their performances or the story they were telling me. They carried the entire film flawlessly. Bravo.
I enjoyed every single minute of this film right up to the end, which left me with a chuckle and the biggest smile.
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No logic to the story but the sweet moments are worth watching
I haven't watched the original Full House so I don't compare this to anything. The story has a lot, I meant, A LOT of flaws in the plot. Things don't add up and illogical. How could Luo Tian Ran act like nothing happened to her BFF who just sold her house? How could the crepe maker easily walk into Tiffany's office without anyone stopping him (Tiffany's office is full of A-Listers!) Anyway, the illogical things are endless and it's painful to watch. The should have checked all the gaps in the stories more carefully.HOWEVER, the series are good in creating sweet moments between LTR and JZY. Zhou Zhou is an amazing actor (#xuweizhou I hope you will read this one day!) with very impeccable micro-expressions. I think he has saved this series from total fail. The OST and the cinematography are also strong. Overall, this is not the best series but Zhou Zhou rescued them!
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This review may contain spoilers
Formulaic execution of one of my favorite dynamics, with a tacked on happy end
I appreciate the sexual chemistry, humor, fight scenes, and opening song as well as the general vibes, but the storyline and crime aspects are weak. No, I don't expect 16 hours of build-up to a cataclysmic revelation that shakes the very foundation of who Chaeha and Taeseon are. In a different story, I wouldn't mind Chaeha jumping in front of a knife for Taeseon at the halfway mark already, and I guess it makes sense on paper why he does it here. I would have enjoyed myself more, though, had the threats been mounting for longer.As it is, it feels like the writers thought, "Okay, we're at this point in the episode count, so it's time for XYZ sex scene," and "Oh, now this much time has passed, so we need to insert dramatic scene number 5." Like, what? The leads do quite well to very well during these big moments, but... I live for the tension. And for the love of God, let me sit with my emotions and wallow in the pain! I need to be able to kid myself that bad things will actually happen and that the issues will be resolved in the next 5 episodes, not in the next 5 minutes!
This show is off to a strong start but doesn't deliver and honestly lacks creativity (of course, Chaeha gets knifed more than once). It is unfortunate, but having watched Beyond Evil, The Devil Judge, and Hannibal's much more thrilling portrayals of this kind of dynamic, I'm not sold on The Prosecutor's Proposal's version. I read a comment calling this story half-baked, and I regrettably must concur. There's a BL in my future that will do the morally gray-but-also-fighting-for-what's-right-and-definitely-BDSM-flavored "I will die and kill for you"-duo justice, no doubt.
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came for the main leads, stayed for the second leads
i just wanna start this off by saying personally ever since the second leads appeared on screen, they singlehandedly carried the drama till the very last ep for me. i was actually quite pumped for the release of miss the dragon cause i really enjoyed dylan's acting in his previous work the rational life, he did great there. just when i was starting to get into him, this drama dropped and literally ruined his whole reputation for me. i feel like his acting has two sides, an ai robot side and the quirkier side, no in-between, i never really understood what his real personality was. in my opinon anyone from the whole cast acted their role better than dylan the main lead like . . . apart from this, i was looking forward to bambi as well, her acting was just okay, though i never bought her character.the storyline was just too rushed, they really expect to shove four lifespans into 36 ep and actually create a powerful story. like no. there was almost no chemistry i could feel from the main leads, no build up. also even though the plot is extremely romance and character focused, i never really understood some sub-plots like the one in the third life, the one about the female leads long lost old friend and that creepy weird enemy dude. what did that have anything to do with the story. but maybe it's cause i skipped it cause i didn't care. music was alright, i enjoyed the frequent sound effects and the opening and ending song is beautiful. cgi is also decent, although why did i feel like the editing team made the dragon look so feminine and not "dragon-like" idk just a personal opinion.
okay now onto the second couple, i could honestly go on and on about their set up and development. i think it's also when compared to the main couple, they are superior in my opinion. their storyline actually makes sense and has a lot of depth especially cause of their love story in the past, forgetting it, then meeting once again. also i can't believe this is deng wei's first role, he really be doing the most. like even though both the male lead and second male have similar personality, he still manages to use these micro expressions to add layers to his character unlike dylan the robot.. i think that deng wei just has a more persuadable cold aura as well. so whenever he does smile (like five times through the show), it just creates more contrast. also i found second female to be quite cute as well, specifically in her scenes with the second male. deng wei has definitely made it as my favorite actor along with second leads being my favorite couple of the month. very much excited for their future projects respectively.
all in all this is just a seemingly high production, but in reality, low production drama (plastic looking sets) if you watch, you just gotta pretend the second leads are the main leads and vise versa. turn off your brain and just enjoy your time at this laughable and almost unreasonable story.
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really cute series
I honestly loved the series it had a good plot and a it was also new unlike anything before. I liked both the couple and the group of friends they had who always supported them. This is a type of series which gives you the heart flutters and always going how cute they are, there are a few twists and turns and at moment your on the edge of your seat as to what is going to happen next. sometimes you may feel that the characters are taking wrong decisions but what is a good story if it doesn't have a few mistakes made by the characters .overall it was a good series highly enjoyable and puts a smile on your face every time.Was this review helpful to you?
