Grief, loss, and acceptance
What I like most about this show is its level of depth- enough material for me to think about, but still at a level I can understand without overanalyzing.Early in, the show presents a sort of preamble, with a tragic story of two friends driven apart by a misunderstanding. It clearly has some parallels to our main character’s past, because he keeps thinking about it. Tang Lici, who seems to know everything, can summarize the situation in a single line- yet fixing it proves to be much more difficult.
Grief, guilt, loss, acceptance, letting go. These are all topics that resonate with me on an emotional gut level, and watching the characters struggle with them felt meaningful and almost personal. It was simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming.
The show also toys with several other concepts like morality, human nature (born good!), the impact of kindness, friendship, and the complexity of human emotions. The ideas come and go rather than being constant themes, but I still found them interesting and thoughtful.
Exploring complex topics requires multidimensional characters, and that’s something this show does well. The main protagonist, Tang Lici, is powerful and clever, always a few steps ahead of everyone. I wouldn’t exactly call him relatable- I certainly couldn’t figure anything out with him, I was just watching him do his thing- but his emotions and struggles are. I really felt for him. He always seems perfectly fine, but he’s really not.
Tang Lici is initially cast as somewhat morally gray. He himself freely admits it. But I didn't think that that’s actually true. He may be a mastermind type who "uses" people; but from the beginning, his plans always try to keep everyone safe, and they usually serve the greater good. He just can’t be bothered to explain this all. If he has a flaw, it’s not lack of conscience or compassion, it’s hubris.
But to explore these ideas of morality, the show still gives us a foil in Puzhu, who’s saintly views on righteousness are clear to all. Puzhu actually comes across as preachy and naively self-righteous, especially compared to Tang Lici. But I think that’s sort of the point. He ends up having an interesting backstory and character arc, which I enjoyed watching.
Puzhu is just one of several characters who turns out to be less straightforward than he at first seems. I think this show does side characters well; even if they sometimes disappear from the story for a while, many are still given multifaceted personalities, character development, and their own story arcs. Zhong Chunji is a good example. She’s trying to be a good person, but she struggles to find her place. (Her sifu is, btw, absolutely lovable and adorable).
Other fun support characters include Chi Yun, the classic dumb but lovable brother-in-arms- at times this character archtype feels a bit forced, but he is actually pretty funny sometimes- and Sheng Langhun, who’s life was ruined by a random act of cruelty, but now gets to build friendships and grow a personality again. These two and Tang Lici get to be three musketeers for a little while in the middle, which is fun to watch. They and several others form a growing cast of friends that make Tang Lici’s jianghu journey less and less lonely.
And then there’s A-Shui. At first I was annoyed by her overly meek and demure mannerisms, but she soon proves to be smart, insightful, and perceptive. She’s not bad, I just initially did not like that she seemed poised to be Tang Lici’s love interest- she didn’t seem good enough.
But this show is not focused on romance, so their interactions and feelings for each other are not particularly played up. It’s more like, any growing affection between them is yet another part of Tang Lici’s personal journey. I was ok with that. Actually there are several other “relationships” in this story that get a similar level of (non) focus, which I rather like for being realistic and relatable. But fans of romance might be more disappointed by the hints + lack of development than if it hadn’t been there in the first place.
Overall, I wouldn’t have minded even more screentime and follow-through for some of these side characters, but their development was already way better than a lot of other shows. They’re more than just sidekicks.
On the villain side, ex-friend Liu Yan is flat out crazy. He gets a lot of leeway in my book- he was clearly so traumatized that he lost a few screws and became totally unhinged. Still, his repeated willful ignorance and self-contradictions really tested my patience sometimes. Ultimately, I could not fully hate him, but it was ok because neither could Tang Lici. Even his little pet red harpy in a harp chair got better.
As for other villains beyond that, I found them quite interesting, but I could still wholeheartedly root against them. I think that’s the best of all worlds.
The plot moves along at a decent clip, with backstory and secrets revealed at a good rate. I found the story engaging and interesting. It gets a little bit loopy towards the end (think time loops), but by hanging my logic on the wall and not thinking too hard, I could still enjoy the show quite a lot.
Some of the ideas explored are pretty heavy, but I didn’t find the show too dark or depressing. It has some decent humor in the first half, and sufficient happy or joyful scenes. It’s heartwarming to watch Tang Lici getting softer throughout the show, and more expressive about caring for his friends.
I also wasn’t too stressed for the first 30 or so episodes. My heart broke for Tang Lici and I cried a lot, but he seems so confident and in control all the time, and he also has a lot compassion, so I felt somewhat assured that he would take care of everything in a satisfying way.
That said, my stress absolutely skyrocketed in the last 5 episodes. This show doesn't tank as badly as some others towards the end, but I was still pretty disappointed by how rushed things felt, how artificially dire the situation became, and how all these side characters I had gotten so attached to seemed to just fade into the background.
Acting-wise, this show has a lot of familiar faces. I had actually not seen Luo Yunxi before and I think he did a good job- I believed both his “mastermind” Tang Lici as well as the innocent one from the flashbacks. My only problem was his flute playing which looked very fake. Overall, I thought everyone did a pretty good job. There is maybe a bit too much of people speaking slowly with pauses, like everything they say is significant and profound. Anybody talking like that in real life would get laughed at. But if this sort of “trying too hard to be deep” is the price to pay for a show exploring some more thoughtful ideas, I’ll take it.
For other production-level stuff, the fighting is heavily CGI-based. Luo Yunxi does more elegant hand motions and floating in air than actual combat. The CGI sometimes looks fake and sometimes seems a bit random, but overall I thought it looked pretty cool and really liked it. I admire the vision to choreograph such elaborate wirework around CGI that gets filled in later.
The costumes are really over the top. Sparkles, beads, metal accents, feathers, fur, you name it. I rather liked them, but maybe am even more impressed that the actors can walk in them.
I also love the music. Especially the ballad and its instrumental, but in general there are a lot of great songs and background musics. More importantly, they are used well to create the right emotional impact at the right time.
Overall I like this show most for its exploration of guilt, grief, and acceptance, which hit some emotional core for me, as well as the focus on personal journey and the development of side characters. Also because there are cats. I might have given it an even higher rating if it hadn’t fallen apart a little towards the end.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
I’d consider this ending to be bittersweet.
The last few episodes are quite a roller coaster; they even kill off two of the most lovable characters in a row. I almost threw a slipper at my screen. Although the deaths are done well, I had gotten way too attached to the characters.
Things get more chaotic closer to the end. I thought Xifang Tao's story would have more depth and development, but for some reason they didn't go there, and then I didn’t fully understand the entire scene that ends with a cat flying at Jeremy Tsui. The final battle is poorly done with bad CGI (did they run out of budget?) Ultimately, a classic big sacrifice by our hero: Tang Lici rewrites history to wipe himself out and give everyone else a new story.
This bothered me not only because it leans into the time loop stuff, which is a logical conundrum, but also because I personally feel like peoples’ experiences make them who they are. So this is essentially like killing everybody. Even though we see a good 5 minutes of everyone happily living their new lives, they’re not the same people that I got to know and love.
And also. The way that every single love story in this show essentially fizzles out (except Chi Yun’s which ends in tragedy) is somewhat disappointing even for a non-romance buff like me. I appreciate how realistic it is- people really do just drift away and don’t come back. That’s life. Still, I watch shows to feel happy and get an escape from reality, and this was a little too realistically depressing. Having it all wiped away by a deus ex machina time bomb doesn’t really help the sour feeling.
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Interesting exploration into marriage without intimacy, before nosediving into absurdity.
This series took an interesting look at marriage and how things can break down over a lack of communication and intimacy.Considering how things went for the two couples profiled in this, I thought their marriages had reached the point of no return. Makoto's wife was more interested in her career than having a family, and in turn denied him emotional and physical intimacy.
And Michi's husband did not want kids at all and rather work a mediocre job and play video games, while at the same time denying her emotional and physical intimacy for more than two years. In the mist of all that he decided to physically cheat on her with his colleague and had little remorse for it until she (Michi) started to pull away from him.
Makoto and Michi became emotionally involved due to their loveless marriages and ultimately divorced their spouses, but break up with each other after the divorces. Still they continue on with their lives. Makoto working on growing his career and Michi doing the same, but also learning how to stand on her own. I thought the story ended in a good place at the end of episode 10 and should've stopped there. I didn't understand why another episode was needed.
Imagine my surprise when the main couples spent all of episode 11 ignoring what had destroyed their relationships in the first place, some of which were things that could not be overcome i.e. one person in the relationship wanting kids while the other didn't and extreme selfishness by one party in the relationship. Only to get back together in the end.
It was good to see Michi try to work on herself. Thus, it was extremely disappointing to see her reunite with Yo just because he told her he loved her. SMH. Very elementary and immature of her. This guy never worked for their relationship, except when that work would result in him getting what he wanted from her. Their relationship was never about them or even her. It was always about him. Moreover, he was unambitious, emotionally stunted and extremely selfish. In no way a match for what she envisioned for her life. It made absolutely no sense that he'd suddenly decide to leave the coffee shop and open his own. Honestly, I don't know how the shop he was working for stayed in business when there was never any customers in there.
This had to be one of the worst series I've ever wasted time watching and it was all due to the ending. I honestly had no investment in Michi and Makoto. I didn't care whether they ended up together or not.
However, I did think enough had been shown to logically conclude that both of their marriages were irreparably damaged and that they needed to move on. What a cop out to have them a) still interacting with each other, not just their exes, but the exes of their former "lovers" and b) to have the suddenly realize they belong together and reunite with their spouses. It made no sense whatsoever. Overall, the only good thing about this was the acting, which was actually pretty good. That aside though, this is not a series I would recommend and is obviously not worth a rewatch.
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STORY
At first, this drama was full of mysteries and you just couldn't wait for the story to unfold, but once they were fully revealed, the excitement dies down quickly. After the mysteries were unfolded, the writers should've then started to develop the romance more but that didn't happen, unfortunately. I guess I was expecting for this drama to be made up of at least 50% romance because, well, the genre IS romance & comedy. But it was more like 15% romance lol. The romance between the leads was very subtle and slow - as in, it doesn't develop until much, MUCH later on, so that was quite disappointing. It disappoints me even more that the main lead and supporting character had more intimate (but dull & unromantic) scenes together than the lead couple. Suho and Ha Yeon Soo actually look very cute together. They have chemistry and there was so much potential for this on-screen couple but the story was just really lacking romance. I guess it focused more on Lee Yoo Chan's past and his journey being a CEO at his own company. I also wished Bora had more character development or stories behind her character because she's one of the leads, but it seemed as if the writers began to neglect her character a little bit later on. She sometimes felt more like a side character.
Some episodes were completely dull. There were sooooo much fillers. The amount of time they spent on Min Tae Ra and the artist she admired was ridiculous. Although, I did find the NEXT IN employees and Bora's friend, Miso, and Cha Do Jin more entertaining than the main story sometimes, just because the episodes would get really dull and those small characters made it a little more interesting and bearable to watch.
ACTING/CAST
I wasn't too pleased with Suho's acting here. I love Suho as a singer, but as an actor... not so much. I don't know what happened to him here. His facial expressions seem really unnatural and awkward sometimes. Is he really lacking acting skills or is it just because he didn't really fit the role of Lee Yoo Chan? Or maybe his character was just poorly written?... I was kind of able to empathize with Yoo Chan because of what he had been through but he was still pretty unlikable most of the time. They should've made him a little bit more likable, at least. Not gonna lie but... if it wasn't for Suho's charming face, his character would've been way more unlikable for me lol I just couldn't seem to hate his character because he looks so angelic haha.
MUSIC
On a positive note... I really liked the OST. The songs are very calming and catchy. A lot of times, I found myself listening to Hard for Me by Cheeze and also Do Young's ver. of that song. Also, Kei's Let's Pray was a really cute song too.
OVERALL
This drama had a lot of potential but it just didn't work out for me, unfortunately. I'd say it was poorly written. I kept hoping it would get better later on because the whole concept of the show is actually interesting, but it didn't get any better. I honestly just continued to watch it just for the sake of finishing it. At least the ending was somewhat satisfying, though.
Would I recommend it? No. Save 16+ hours of your time and watch something better. But if Suho's your bias and you feel that you just really gotta watch it, then go for it lol.
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Snowdrop, the perfect blend of chaos and an emotional rollercoaster.
I won’t make this long and boring so here goes nothing. Watching Snowdrop, you will feel every emotion humanly possible. Laughter, anger, sadness, happiness, butterflies in your stomach, anxiety, anticipation, etc. etc. I started watching this for Jisoo but stayed for each and every cast member.This show has a little bit of everything- Romance, Suspense, Action, Drama and Thriller.
The best part about watching this drama is that you absolutely can’t predict anything. You can come up w your own theories but never be sure of a possibility.
Now let’s talk about the casting:
Jisoo: I was a bit worried cause I thought it might be too heavy for her to pull off such a character as her first but damn she killed it. She ATE it and left no crumbs. If I were new to kpop/kdrama, I’d think she’s already a very experienced actress.
SooHo: Perfection is an understatement to describe his acting skills. Every emotion was executed with detail and perfection. I’ve been watching him for a long time so I knew what he was capable of but he exceeded all of my high expectations.
Kim Min Gyu: I was planning to only add the above 2 but HAD to mention him. I’ve been watching him for a long time as well but was never “Awed” by his skills. For me, he was always the “Cute or Creepy hot dude” but here- he went out of him damn shell and was absolutely impeccable. I’m so impressed with him here.
The rest of the cast was also ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!
Honourable Mentions:
Kim Hye Yoon (never fails to impress)
Miss Pi
Nam tae il
Kang Moo
Hanna
Yoo in ah (never thought she could pull off such a role w perfection)
Also, the bromance between Kang Moo and Soo Ho was pure bliss to watch!
Music was also on point.
To sum it up, I 100% recommend to watch it. Give it a shot, I’m sure you’ll love it.
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Main Ingredient? LOVE!
What can you do when your mom sends you far away from the city as a punishment? Live with it. Or you could run away, but that probably wouldn't be the best idea.Moo, who has that problem, was sent away for not being a good student and skipping classes due to trying to reach his dream of becoming an idol. When his mom finally gets tired of it, she sends him away from Bangkok. Now, in a secluded area where the nearest convenience store is a 20 minute walk, he must learn to live here where he has a crappy room and bad internet.
Kang, a guy who helps his mom run a restaurant. Nothing much to it besides the fact he's a good artist.
When their paths meet, what could happen? Will there be love brewing? We'll have to wait and see over the weeks that this comes out.
This drama had reminded me so much of msp. Not necessarily the plot but the way that this makes me feel takes me back to when I was first watching My School President. I love Sea and Keen as a pairing so much!! Kang and Moo matched each other so much, and their visuals together are just amazing overall. This series may just be my top 5, maybe even 3, bl series of 2024
Who would I be if I forgot about the side couple? Payos and Potae are such cuties and seeing them together was great, I hope to see more of them together in future series.
As the first half of 2024 is coming to an end, the last day of June being my birthday and being the last day of the first half of 2024, Only Boo is beginning to wrap up with only one week until the final episode. It's sad to say and I will for sure miss these two, but I'm so glad that I joined this journey and watch these two characters grow as they realize their love for each other.
This series was a roller coaster of emotions from tears of joy to tears of sadness. If I had a chance to watch this all over again for the first time, I would. My cuties!!!!
(For those who don't know: The Trainee with OffGun will be overtaking the Sunday spot, June 30th, my birthday😋)
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Meh-drama: Lackluster Plots, One-Dimensional Characters, and a Blatant Maturity Gap
This entire drama was such a meh, and I definitely have lots of complaints about it. First of all, literally nothing happens for the whole duration of the drama, yeah it has fluff (cringe fluff) but its kinda boring seeing the same thing happen three times. The main CP have a very large maturity gap, it gives 19 and 30 yr old, for the most part its just blush blush tee hee I've never been in a relationship before but it's very noticeable and I kinda really got sick of it really quickly. The characters are also very 1D and lack depth, MQC's only personality traits are doctor, chef and voice dubber and it's all based of their careers. MQC is a very unrealistic character who is magically good at everything and there are no challenged whatsoever in the relationship. The 2nd and 3rd Couple were also very forgettable and it kind got to the point where I really just did not care about them. I watched this whole drama on 1.5x speed, and I only finished it because I am a big fan of TJC. I do not recommend this to even people that like romance and fluffy, overall I rate it a 5/10.Was this review helpful to you?
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An OK Drama
Bulgasal literally means 'impossible to kill'. This drama is based on a Korean folklore. Bulgasal is mythical immortal creature or monster that feeds on human blood. This folklore dates back to the late Goryeo period.Bulgasal: Immortal souls is directer by Jang Young Woo and screenwritten by a husband-wife team Kwon So Ra and Seo Jae Won.
Dan Hwal played by Lee Jin Wook was a human who was born with Bulgasal's curse. He bacame a Bulgasal himself after a series of incidents 600 years ago which led to him losing his family. He is now in search of a woman, who he believes to have killed his family and turned him into a Bulgasal in her past life. She has now reincarnated as Min Sang Un played by Kwon Na Ra. Hwal needs her soul to break free of his curse of immorality and leave the world.
The first episode is set in the late Goreyeo period, when monsters were alive. It shows the original story of Dan Hwal from birth to how he became a Bulgasal. Honestly, though a lot happened in the first episode, I didn't really feel anything. It felt really uninteresting and slow. There was a war inside my mind whether I should continue this show or put it back in my PTW list (I don't drop dramas) after I finished the first episode. Then, I decided to give the second episode a try. Most of this episode was set in the modern times and in this, unexpectedly the whole look and pace of the drama changed. It became more and more interesting and intriguing in the next episodes. It's really unpredictable what will happen next and arouse our curiosity. Each and every episode arises new new questions which keeps the story compelling.
After starting this drama during the airing time, I realised that it was not a good decision because we will be at our wit's end wating for the next episode. The whole drama was fairly fast paced with no lagging.
Both Lee Jin Wook and Kwon Na Ra are veteran actors. As I usually watch C-dramas and only recently ventured into the lands of K-drama world, I have never seen them in any drama except Lee Jin Wook in Sweet Home (which I never completed). I liked his acting in Sweet Home and I think I know why he is cast for this role. Dan Hwal's character needs a commanding as well as terrorising (sometimes calm and caring too) look which Lee Jin Wook had.
I'm not really a fan of Kwon Na Ra but I canno't deny that her acting was nice in this drama. Eventhough the she was a bit annoying at first, she fairly pulled off her emotional scenes. But she dosen't make up to the list of my favourite actresses.
The actor that I liked the most in this drama is the villian's. I won't say who it is (probably you know whom I'm refering to) but, his acting is just superb. He nailed his character and this is what I really want from an villian character. His look, gestures and everything is really apt for his character.
Also the supporting character play a major role in the story of this drama, especially Min Shi Ho (Min Sang Un's current life sister) played by Gong Seung Yeon, Detective Kwon played by Jung Jin Young, Nam Do Yoon (an orphan who is often abused) played by Kim Woo Seok and Lee Hye Suk. Without them, the drama would feel incomplete. I really liked their bond between eachother. I won't elobrate their relations to eachother in their past lives as I don't want to spoil the fun for the future watchers.
The cinemaorgyaphy is awsomely done. It correctly captures the feelings of a scene. Also the background music is really eerie which well fit the atmosphere of the drama and makes our hair stand on end.
Some other OSTs from this drama:
"Leave" ( 하루) by 4Men
"Tunnel (with Kardi)" (터널 ) by Kim Ye Ji
"Can't Forget You" (잊을 수 없다면) by Min Seo
"Beyond The Time" by Jannet Suhh
All the OSTs are nice. But, Leave and Beyond the Time are among my personal favourites.
The main story arc sometimes feel difficult to understand and is confusing. It is like pieces of puzzles which we, audience, have to join and understand. Although there are only a few main and supporting characters, I was confused of their relations with eachother in their current and past lives at first.
Another problem lies in the romance part. There was absolutely no need of romance. Sometimes it works but sometimes not. If we understand the underlying logic in the romace part, it can sometimes be heart fluttering. But, this is not a drama for romance lovers. There are not kiss or intimate scenes. Just some piggy back rides and hugs.
However, I have to give a warning to everyone who is thinking of watching this drama. This is really bloody. This drama gives you pain and shocks. There are many scenes of self-inflicted wounds, deaths, monsters and many more scenes which give you goosebumps.
This drama is an ok drama for me. It had really great potential which is ruined by substandard direction and writing. It could have been a lot better. However, this is a recommended drama for mystry and supernatural genre lovers.
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Love it and enjoyed it, amazing acting
Watched it in the cinema with friends on the first release day in Hong Kong and it was a pleasant experience. I love how good the actor's acting are when it comes to expressing all the detailed emotion. Especially when i had enough of BL drama full of sexual scenes, this movie certainly gave me a refreshing break. If you are hoping for some crazy hot and spicy love story, sorry but this is not one of those. But you are looking for beautiful scenery, music, people and subtle emotions, this is certainly a must watch. The lyrics in the theme song pretty much stated out the whole story line.Was this review helpful to you?
Not Every drama is worth the rating
As someone who hasn’t read the webtoon, I actually found the drama fresh and interesting. I’m not arguing whether the FL is a psychopath or sociopath because there's no rule that every main character needs to be empathetic. The actress truly delivered an amazing performance. What disappointed me the most was how the director altered the story. Since the drama is meant for a general audience, the FL shouldn’t get a “free pass” just because she’s the main character. The ending felt overly biased and honestly quite weak.The webtoon’s conclusion seems far more logical, and the drama was rushed to the point where the FL’s character lost its depth. That’s why I ended up giving it a 6.
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I cannot believe how they ruined such a good cast and potential plot. The first ten episodes were exciting and really made me think "wow this could be one of my favorite dramas of the year", but no. It goes downhill to the point you have no idea what they are trying to prove or show. Unless you enjoy a psychotic guy falling in love with a girl with no values or even common sense, then do not torture yourself mentally by watching this. At the beginning of the drama I was one of those people who defended the female lead despite her playing two guys because I thought she was gonna grow and change. How could you make a vow to your fiancé that you will always love and be with him even in another lifetime and go love the person that stabbed him to death?? Not only that she made him look like a fool for saving her and loving her unconditionally; she acts like a block of ice and runs to the psychotic guy hugging him and talking to him like he's some type of angel. What is the point of this drama? To show that eternal love doesn't exist? To show that stalking someone and murdering is okay? To show that the "bad guy" can get the girl? WTH like I don't even know how someone approved this drama to be filmed after reading the script. I also don't know why the actors especially Lee Soo Hyuk would want to participate in such chaos and nonsense. I finally understand why this drama received very low ratings in Korea and now even on MDL. For your own good and sanity do not watch this drama. Was this review helpful to you?
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Pretty People Trying to Fight and Fall in Love, I guess?
Due to the change in the original reincarnation story, they utterly made this non-sensical plot.What exactly was He Yan proving y'all? She was already a General. She didn't have anything to learn, just to get revenge against her idiot family. But y'all, here me out? Like......why not...and i know this sounds crazy....but why not, just go take out that snotty nose GeGe. What her dad going to do y'all? He is gonna be forced to keep her. Also, you could just kill that dude as well. Why not? She is strategic GENERAL, why can't she take what she wants from her useless family?!?! Don't give me the blah blah morals of her character blah blah. I don't want to hear it, this guy tried to assassinated her (was so close) and caused the death of 30,000 soldiers. I think she can take him out easy.
Instead, she "pretends" to be a new solider but legit gets caught within 1 minute of entering the doors. And get this, the guy who runs the show is also her classmate?!
Listen, that man is FINE. Respectfully. BUT HE DID NOT KNOW THIS CHICK WAS HIS CLASSMATES AND SOME HOW BOUGHT THAT THE OTHER GUY (her gege) who is what 6 ft? Wide shoulders? Deep Voice? Lacking moral character? is his classmates?!? Nah, that means he is dumb and shouldn't be running an army.
A freaking dancer who met her ONCE, spotted that she was a chick. AND homey had MONTHS studying with her? Get out of here. Then the kicker, he feels her bound chest against his back and was like, "A woman?!" (insert that clip from Mulan where she is dragged once she is found out).
Now on to the other stuff, the villains were so subpar. The emperor was dumb. And those last couples episodes, why? like why? For who? What a silly mindset? Here me out. EVEN IF, either of them gives up their army authority, did the emperor really think the army is still not going to follow their command?! All you did was piss them off. And that throwaway 2ML, like boy. I was hoping you turn around have some common sense but no, you went stupider and lost the 1 chick who stayed loyal to you. Such nonsense.
And all this, I could forgive a bit (not all, ain't a saint) if the chemistry was FIRE. But no, it was meh. Sorry, it just wasn't fully there for me. But anyway, everyone was pretty to look at.
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The biggest disappointment in BL history....
While this show was not only overhyped and we all expected greatness, the script of this show was worse than I could ever have imagined. As usual this series started strong in the first two episodes to declined at a steady pace *till episode 12, where the jumped of the cliff and landed on the belly.Everyone reading the novel can agree, that the novel did not need to be spiced up with the SM part for example. If the book is already good, you should not change it into something it never was. The pacing is all over the place and the side couples are mostly just extras where their stories are wasted and not explored in depth. But we see scene after scene of the ML which did nothing for the story.
Episode 12 culminates in the trash script this was, with one cliché after the next. Nobody can fault the actors who all did a very good job with what there were given. And of course costumes, most of the staging and cinematography was impeccable, The music with an real orchestra was great - if they had used it everywhere and not used some music from a library which again was completely unnecessary. The few minutes in every episode could have been handled by the composer as well. Of course I could nitpick about the "english" natives and the "London underground station" and so on. And don't forget all the ads slapped directly into our faces. And don't forget the miraculous healing power of Chakri, who was serving again after being shot (which was not a stray shot in the arm or so).
All in all, this was overhyped and did not deliver. Aof said, he did the best he could. If that's the best, I don't see a future for Domundi. But of course the fangirls will overrate this show again, will not understand how weak that story was and that the drama was forced. And they will write glowing reviews (hello CRPH & thanks for blocking) not having a shroud of integrity to write about the flaws this show has. Normally this show would rate even lower, but I can't deny the acting performance (oh daddy Ramil you were the perfect asshole through out the series), the cinematography, costums and most of the staging and most of the music. But the script was trash. As I have written all of that - the conclusion is: This show is a waste of your time.
Oh, I forgot: The cut version should not exist, because they even cut STORY elements. Which makes no sense at all, especially in the first episode.
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Chasing Love The Korean Way
The drama starts with the FL taking money from the ML's mother to break up with the ML.. Honestly.. If you love someone truly.. No matter the reasons.. You wouldnt normally do that.. And her reasons were ridiculous.. Then begins her struggle to breakup with him and get over him..She broke up with him because he is rich?? Feeling she wouldn’t fit in with him or his family.. Most of the drama, she kept judging the ML because he is rich.. She had the audacity to ask him ' Did u ever skipped lunch because u couldn't afford it? ' That was her reason to breakup?? He was rich?? He loved her wiht everything he had.. Apart from the fact that he hid how rich he is.. Did he make any other mistake?? Most people don't know how to cherish true love.. The ML deserved someone better..
She acted like the most mature and smart character in the drama.. But I felt it was the ML who despite seeming childish at times.. Showed the real maturity in their relationship..
" You were afraid you would get hurt and let go of my hand right away.. "
" I know I am pathetic for not being able to get over you after breaking up.. But even in this moment I am only worried how to keep you from getting hurt.. So how could you do this to me?? "
ML was really pathetic.. But he wanted to fight for his love.. Unlike the FL who was waiting for a reason to runaway.. I don't know who was more pathetic..
I understand she went through her own hardships.. But that doesn’t give her the right to judge someone else’s life.. He showered her with love in every way possible.. While all she did was hurt him when he was trying to protect what they had.. Even when she got back with him.. She chose to have dinner with someone else instead of the ML.. Her situation was understandable.. But she could have shown some decency and spared her boyfriend the embarrassment instead of indulging some random guy’s interference in their relationship..
The second couple literally stole the show.. I found myself wanting to see more of them than the main couple.. They deserved more screen time.. And their relationship really called for deeper exploration.. Their chemistry was captivating.. And the moments they shared felt more genuine.. It would have been great to see their story developed further..
Overall.. The drama falls short of expectations..The FL's choices undermined the genuine affection of the ML.. In contrast, the second couple shines with authentic chemistry..
P.S.. Moon Sang Min needs to find a new agency or start picking good scripts for himself if he doesn't want to waste his career doing dramas that doesn't treat his career well.. This drama was an average one.. But He could do better..
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This review may contain spoilers
I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THIS
From beginning to end, this film was a true masterpiece. If you want to experience a beautiful story filled with authentic feelings of affection and true love then watch this. It evokes nostalgia for items like DVDs and payphones, and the overall melodramatic, nostalgic, dreamy mood only adds to the plot.Watch it if you want to be left feeling like a complete and utter wreck. Also don't watch it for those same reasons. I just feel the same as I did after completing 2521. It's literally so similar to that with the youthful, coming of age storyline filled with miscommunications and missed opportunities except there's a very big plot twist at the end.
Be warned, there is no happy ending to this story. I'm still not over it. Bo Ra and Woon Ho deserved sooooooo much better.
It's a solid 9/10 for me but I am so mad / confused I want to give it less but it was a really good movie, I think the actors did a really good job portraying these characters and sharing their love story. I was literally up at 3am watching this sobbing for 15 minutes after it ended. This film truly made me feel so many emotions.
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