Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is as the title implies - a story about vengeance and making us sympathize with the motives behind said vengeance, and it does it very well.
It shows us that the world isn't black and white, and while we may not agree with how things turn out - we can understand why they ended up that way.
The emotion from the actors in this film is very raw, even to the point of being intoxicating - which is one of its main charms, I think.
The pacing was one of the weaker points of the film, as it took around an hour to really get things rolling. Sure the hour had a lot of build up, but it was really quite unnecessary at times.
It isn't a film you really want to re-watch straight away - more like you'll watch it once then maybe watch it again after a year or so.
Once it started, though... It was quite beautiful.
Anyway, delightful movie.
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Worst drama of the year
Honestly the drama started well, watching for first 5 ep was quite fun, but what a mess it became after wards, looks like the writers are high on weed. Those people justifying the drama because of ji soo, i have one word to say i also love jisoo but the way he is portrayed seems like he is always trying to bang her sis in law. And the female lead ye ji i cant understand in the first half she says that she loves jin but later she says that she was never loved jin, Honestly i have no problem in such type story but it should not portray as jin is the negative one. And another thing it gives a very wrong msg to the society that if you are handicapped your spouse will leave you.Was this review helpful to you?
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A Refreshing Dive into Teen Romance
"Our Secret Diary" is an emotional rollercoaster that begins with a bit of a shaky start with too much music and an initial awkwardness in acting. However, once it hits its stride, it becomes a compelling journey. The characters feel remarkably genuine, breaking away from the cookie-cutter molds often seen in these films. The absence of prolonged tearful scenes and sudden villains is a welcome surprise, making the high school romance feel more authentic. The imperfect yet honest portrayal of the main character adds a layer of realism, and the evolution of the initially shy heroine is a standout aspect. Despite being rooted in the familiar, the film manages to keep viewers engaged for almost two hours, turning a basic romance into a captivating movie night experience.Was this review helpful to you?
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STORY:
The story itself was a fairly basic one (with a few twists here and there). The young and innocent daughter of a powerful sect for various reasons has to take up the responsibility that goes with her birth right. There are people who think she's incapable or think they would be better. There are those who side with her and want to help her succeed. There's the Big Bad who is the root cause of most/all of the problems that the characters go through. As fairly basic as the story was, that wasn't really my problem with the drama. Maybe it was because I didn't super binge watch it (mostly because I couldn't get invested in it enough to watch it endlessly and partially because it wasn't fully subbed when I started watching), but I found myself just coasting through watching it half the time - not really paying attention to what was going on because I wasn't that interested.
A lot of it also was probably that I didn't necessarily feel like the main leads had great chemistry together (and I love both Dilraba and Vic) so I didn't get invested in the drama because I didn't particularly care for the main romance.Nothing in the drama was particularly mind blowing or exciting. There were a few "Oh wow" moments, which thankfully they had or it'd be even less interesting, but overall I just really didn't care for this drama all that much.
ACTING:
Dilraba Dilmurat - though she's actually a favorite of mine, I'm starting to really agree that she's really only good at playing that cute, young, innocent girl character. This drama was focused on Lie Ru Ge growing up and taking over the reins of Lie Huo sect, but her character never really seemed to change for me. There was never that moment that I was like "oh snap, here's Ru Ge." Especially for her being so heavily associated with fire, her personality definitely never really moved past that young, naive girl for me.
Vic Zhou - probably one of the highlights of the drama (and being one of his returns to acting) but even so, I had mixed feelings about his character at the beginning (though I'm not sure if it was an acting choice or if it was because of how his character was written, While his playful personality was a good contrast to Zhang Bin Bin's cold personality, it just felt like a weird choice for a character who was supposed to be part of the immortal sect (and who had previously been a part of the Dark River sect). Might have just been me though.
Zhang Bin Bin - I always think Zhang Bin Bin does a good job at playing the character he's given. That being said, the actual character of Zhan Feng was definitely pretty one note the whole drama. He was just the quiet, cold "hero" type.
Overall:
I really just had very "meh" feelings about this drama. The story wasn't exciting enough to keep me intrigued and the chemistry between the actors wasn't intense enough for me to really invest myself into the drama. I wouldn't call it a bad drama, but it's a very unmemorable one for me.
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Didn't Work For Me
I didn’t like this, unfortunately. It just didn’t work for me. All it really had going for it was the great acting, some nice visuals, and solid chemistry between the leads. That’s it. The plot and story were just bad. I found myself skimming through a lot of it, to be honest.The first episode was intriguing and gave me some hope, I was actually looking forward to the next one. But it just went downhill from there. Each episode got worse plot-wise. I don’t mind men crying (actually, I like it), but I do mind the main lead going through some new trauma every single episode, over literally nothing, and then the issue just gets dropped like it never happened, just to make space for the next. It got tiring. I considered dropping this way too many times but stuck around purely for the leads.
And seriously, if your NC scene is the best scene, that’s not a good sign.
Speaking of, the way this show handled sexual assault was disgusting. It was used as a plot device and then brushed off like it was just cheating??? No. That’s not cheating — it’s rape. Whether they end up sleeping together or not doesn’t change that. And of course, like always, the predator faces zero consequences. The whole Johnny arc made me so mad I literally dropped the show when it was airing. I only came back a month later because everyone kept calling it a masterpiece. (and too many smart boom videos on my fyp)
Also, sorry but… I found Jin a bit creepy too.
So yeah, all I have to say is: the plot was TRASH.
But, credit where it’s due: the acting, especially Boom was great. The leads had really good chemistry, like they genuinely fit. The visuals and cinematography were mostly nice. Some of the outfits were nice.
And Naru was an absolute cutie. I just had to say it.
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1romantic, sweet, lovely
This world, nor main couple were dumbed-down, to fit some tortured romantic scenerio. It has, no joyless revenge, or destruction of love. What it has; is a story you can follow; action twists, comedy relief; with characters you can hate, and some that will grow over time. There's enough angst and lakorn tropes for the vocal watcher - But, not enough to kill the joy in a burgeoning love story, that started out in the most cliche way possible. I highly recommend it for a light watch; a slow burn; with no regrets.Was this review helpful to you?
don’t watch it if you’ve read the novel
if you’re not going to follow the original story and make so many changes then you shouldn’t have made the movie in the first place anyone who has read at least one chapter knows that this movie has insulted the original plot of this story I honestly feel bad for the author of ORV I mean what do you mean yo sangha is a healer her whole character is an assassin literally olympid is her counsellation she is like one of the top ten strongest characters and what do you mean yo joonghyuk is a side character mfWas this review helpful to you?
ACTING/CAST: They managed to make the characters seem as they should, although the supporting characters were really shallow.
MUSIC: Regular
REWATCH VALUE: 6/7
OVERALL: I liked it and the story was pretty consistent. It's a typical japanese BL and the ending is quite warming.
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Twinkle, Twinkle But Not A Gem..
The Story; Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol ( roughly translated to ‘ Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ from Romanised Korean), tells the story of an affluent girl who is a dreadful pianist, Goo Ra- ra ( Go Ara). When her life hits rock bottom, she ends up running again into the mysteriously hardworking Lee Jae- wook (Sunwoo Joon). Together with Jae- wook and her new friends, Ra- ra might just find the answer to getting her life back on her feet through the kindness of strangers and new love.The Characters; The show offered an odd mix of characters both endearing and lacking characterisation. As our main protagonists go, Ra- Ra was mostly driven as a weeping heroine with little emotional depth. Considering Ra- Ra lost her mother, father and has gone through Hell and Back, there was so much potential for the scriptwriters to induce a level of pity or teaching her character about the realities of life. Instead, any hope for Ra- Ra to be a realistic female lead is thrown out the window in pace of her romance with Jun. Even small actions regarding Ra- Ra by the scriptwriters such as her mysterious multitude of outfits ( and not considering even in the beginning of the show to perhaps sell them to help pay for Jun), the expenses of her hospital fees and her seemingly remaining oblivious to the Doctor and Jun’s secrets, added little to her character. Moving on to our main lead, it’s fair to say that he was perhaps slightly more tolerable for audiences as he seemed to realistically carry emotional burdens upon his back as well as mysterious secrets. Sadly, rather than trying to allow Jun to face his own demons by spending time with Ra- Ra , the scriptwriters tried too hard to add obstacles within their relationship through the strange plot twist near the ending of the show. Whilst this did help for Ra- Ra and Jun to explore their relationship, it seemed just to point out that none of the characters in the show were truly grounded in reality.
Relationships between characters; Perhaps my one appraisal for the show is the Mother- Daughter bond between Jin Sook-kyeong ( Ye Ji- Won) and Jin Ha-yeong ( Shin Eun Woo) . For a show grounded in romance, there was a surprisingly familial turn upon learning that the seemingly daft and flirtatious hair stylist , Jin Sook- kyeong, got a surprising moment of characterisation through learning of her hardships and her actual affection as a single mother for her daughter. Similarly, it was equally sweet that Sook-kyeong, Ha- Yeong and Ra-Ra developed a strong bond between one another as the show progressed. I have a couple of complaints, however, about the need for Sook-kyeong and Ha- yeong to have romantic interests in the show. Whilst there’s obviously nothing wrong with either character having their own love interest, it seemed out of character at times when there could have been more focus upon the characters as individuals. For me, this was seen especially with Ha- yeong. Whilst the scriptwriters dropped the hints, the ending seemed to deny a lot of Ha- yeong’s potential to continue with a successful career.
On other notes, there were other signs of familial love within the show such as Jun and his mother ( Seo Yi Sook) and , the child prodigy, Jae- Min who develops a familial bond with our characters. On a romance level, the show was a bit of a mixed bag. Once Jun’s secrets were exposed it did put a bit of edge for viewers between their relationship, but, perhaps one of the things which didn’t entirely add up for us as viewers, was the revelation towards Ra- Ra not recognising Jun from the past. Whilst it’s natural her memory might’ve been a bit hazy, it seemed a little strange that she didn’t even mildly recognise Jun at the concert hall or at the wedding either. Naturally, there is of course the ‘ second Male lead syndrome’ of the tired Doctor Eun- Seon ( Kim Joo- Hun) . Whilst there were a couple of factors which made Eun- Seon a little more appropriate for Ra- Ra, Eun- Seon came across as a little too forceful of Ra- Ra’s privacy at times, something which struck a nerve with me. The other evident factor was that once Jun swooped in, his “ fanatic feelings” seemed to mysteriously disappear. Whilst the scriptwriters evidently didn’t want to spend hours upon Eun- Seon falling out of love, it was another case and point of bad characterisation that we didn’t get to see Eun- Seon’s reactions as a human being.
Acting; Go Ara struck me as an unusual choice to play a romantic female lead. Typically taking on more gritty or melodramatic styles such as Black and Haechi, it wasn’t that Ara was necessarily bad within playing Ra-Ra, and in fact, exposed herself as an actress by not being typecasted as the action heroine. ( An ironic reversal for most female actresses). On the other hand, to put it simply, , she just didn’t add anything new or illuminating to her role. (Admittedly, this was also the fault of the scriptwriters as well) Moving onto our Male lead, Lee Jae- Wook has really been rising to providence as a romance actor after his appraised role in Extraordinary You. Whilst I wasn’t a great fan of the show, Jae- Wook’s acting did peak my interests as a potentially good actor. It was clear to see that Jae- Wook put his heart and soul into the drama within his role as Jun, however, in a similar manner to Ara, Wook didn’t bring anything new or exciting to his take on the Male lead. (Perhaps a personal thought upon Jae- Wook is that whilst he took the role on within the popular genre of romance, he should explore outwards into different genres in order to explore his boundaries of acting).
OST/ Cinematography ; Whilst the show plays upon classical music and standard panel shots, there was a lot which could’ve been explored with the usage of music and cinematography hand in hand.
Plot thoughts; In all honesty, the actual plot of the drama isn’t terrible. What it certainly isn’t is overwhelmingly impactful, original or intriguing for audiences. The cliches have simply been seen and done before; the sanguine and dippy rich girl who learns life lessons, the hardworking Male lead , illnesses and hidden pasts as well. The biggest fault within playing upon these cliches is that the audiences rarely get to see the characters as human beings, rather than merely plot devices. As a consequence, whilst sugary sweet with a bittersweet ending, the drama was overly unrealistic and easily forgettable for the next Korean Romance Drama succeeding this one. .
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Story: I felt like this could have been longer- if there was more plot and back-story involved "Another Parting" could have definitely been a normal 16 episode drama. AP felt too short and choppy- there wasn't enough reasoning behind certain events and actions, and it felt like I was being jerked around. The overall effect was entertaining, but the whole thing gave me whiplash. The story itself was original and new, with surprising bits of comic relief thrown in.
Acting: No surprises as far as Seo In Guk was concerned- I already knew he could act. I've never seen Wang Ji Won before, but she had nice chemistry with him and carried her character well. The other characters had so little screen time they were practically nonexistent, so I don't think I need to comment there.
Music: Since this drama was less than an hour long, total, the music wasn't really a huge part of it. I can vaguely recall some ballads, but that's about all I can remember.
Rewatch Value: As of now, I don't really have much reason to, but I definitely do want to skim over it again in the future.
Overall: A bit strange and choppy, but still interesting enough. I'd recommend "Another Parting" if you have some spare time or really love the cast.
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just confusing and terrible
I absolutely adore Becky and her previous works, i have no complaints about her acting as Nanno, but it just didn't hit the same as before. The acting was great from everyone but the story just wasn't it.Each episode left me confused and bored. Half of the times i couldn't even understand why the characters deserved Nanno's punishment. For example the last episode.. The guy didn't even do anything wrong before Nanno came into the picture.
As for Sky, i really liked his character, but I feel like they could have done so much more with him. Really disappointed that they killed him off.
Overall this drama left me very confused and disappointed. I expected a lot more from it.
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Did not get the attention as Double Helix and Sammy's Children Day
While we were in a slump with most thai BLs, China got us three good shows. Sadly for this show, it was overshadowed by Double Helix and Sammy's Children Day even when in parts it was much better than the other ones. First of course there is the historical settings, gorgeous costumes and a budget which got strained, so we only have two nice fighting scenes.While the script was not as polished as it could be, the actors compensated for most of it. Especially the scheming crown price was a delight to watch. Of course it was a bit too gay. 🤣 We not also got a BL we also get a GL but in subdued undertones but very obvious. Combine this with great cinematography and you get a good show.
You get the scheming, the fighting, the fluffyness, tasteful nc-scenes and a bit of sillyness (6th princess). Of course, they could not go with a sad end, because it's a BL after all. You get everything you can wish for in a setting which is interesting with a story-arc which made sense and compared to most other chinese BLs a story without toxicit., Just a fairy tale where the good gals/guys win. For me it was very entertaining, everything is like a small river flowing evenly and then comes the thunderstorm and water is cascading down the hills and flooded everything in it's way. And after the flood comes the time to rebuilding, in this case the search for a cure for Yanzhi with an happy end. So, this is definitively worth a watch!
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Don't watch it, just read the original novel
This movie is god awful and if I could, I'd give it a 0/10 but alas, it has to be a 1/10.They changed the very core of the story AND the characters. Like, if you just wanted to make a loose adaptation of the original, then at least make it better? It's not even good as just a standalone film with cheap looking CGI and poor acting. Money was definitely spent on just getting big name actors.
They took out everything that ORV stands for. Changed SO many backgrounds of all the characters. Like Kim Dokja is not a savior. He's a suicidal calculative guy who will do this to his advantage. And then them completely changing his background just to fit their own narrative? Way to take away from who he is. He's a lover of TWSA, a fan of this book and literally survived for 13 years because of this book! It's what kept him going through life. I mean the start of the opening was already b ad so I'm not surprised it's just trash.
Anyways, don't waste your time watching this or spending your money on it. Save your money, let it go to doom so they don't even attempt a second movie.
Read the original source.
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