Acting/Cast- I was intrigued by the casting but in the end the way the writers wrote the characters just made me lose interest. The chemistry was there between the leads but it was wasted. I thought the casting for the second female lead was all wrong. She wasn't as pretty as Han Chae Young so it was hard to believe that both male leads would pick her over HCY's character.
Music- It had a couple of nice songs but it wasnt too memorable.
There's no way i'd rewatch this!
Overall- this drama had some funny moments but with the average storyline and ending, this should only be watched when all the best dramas out there have been watched already.
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This review may contain spoilers
Crashed into my watchlist that's for sure
This was a surprisingly fun addition to my forever long currently watching list and I hope it stays that way.The pilot episode begins with a bang, with a side of female badass. From the very first scene, things are fast-moving and explosive and as expected cool car scenes (thanks to the director). there is barely any lingering which works best given the series length. The team here comprises of four people. 1) So-hee (FL) who is a passionate and talented crime investigator cop and stops at nothing to see cases through (even if it means bending the rules or sacrificing herself), 2) Chae-man; the chief and creator of TCI who is similar to So-hee but softer in that regard, 3) Dong-gi; an automobile specialist and can analyze what kind of car it is and where it was tuned just by looking at the silhouette of the car and listening to the sound of the engine and Hyeon-gyeong the youngest member of TCI, who has a tremendous amount of internal martial arts skills. Yeon-ho (ML), eventually works more closely with the TCI, is smart, awkward and introverted but with a strong moral backbone. He is most notably a KAIST graduate and has many investigation certifications.
Since each case lasts about 1-2 episodes each, the hand offs are solid with the next case interwoven into the current one and aren't just sprung on us at the beginning of each episode. There's also call backs to earlier cases which helps maintain the link throughout the series. The cases also give us more insight to our team and their dynamic as well as an opportunity for them to get the recognition and respect they deserve. There's also some comedy sprinkled in here and there which eases the tension especially in some of the serious scenes (Gu Gyeong Mo-the national police chief- is my fighter đ đ ). Plus, the action sequence especially with the cars is giving when it has to do its part!!
Going into this series I was mostly expecting FL's life story to be the thing that serves as a connector for all the episodes since that is typically the case. However, I was glad that this time ML's past serves as what is keeping the link between episodes. It's a slow confusing start but when it finally rains, it pours. Also, it's been fun to see how our TCI team has embraced ML into their unit despite his quirky nature. I look forward to continuing this fun watch and hope the momentum continues on until the end (update: it did). The villains in this drama are villaining and I sincerely hope out TCI team comes out on top in the finale somehow, or at least they set up and confirm season 2!!! (Update: the ending was open ended and leave room for season 2). Ngl, that Tae Joo plot is/was/will still be actively pissing me off!! Writer-nim I hope you are seeing this and it is resolved! I am not the biggest ending of the last episode but oh well...
P.S. Lee Min Ki suits this type of character best. His deadpan humor and aloof vibes are good.
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Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island
16 people found this review helpful
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sensible, symbolism and real kisses ?
This was not on my radar, but good friends recommanded this series to me.RANT: The worst part first: The subtitles. Who the fuck thought of this font and that they need to put pastel colored text on a pastel colored backgrond in the beginning of every episode? It's unreadable. Second the normal subtitles were a joke as well, it's 7pts and anyone, even with perfect eye-sight will have trouble to read such text if the person has a reasonable distance to the monitor/TV set. I needed to watch 50cm away from my 30" monitor which is annoying as hell! You can add normal subtitles on youtube easily and it would not have mattered. To hard encode subtitles is a crime as well. END OF RANT
Yeah, sorry I had to write the "real kisses" in the headline đ€Ł This is a chinese production and I was expecting the censor-hammer coming down on them. In this case it didn't, which makes this a stand-out in itself. The good thing besides that, we get an actual story, with actual emotions. More or less a coming of age story but not from the gay lead but his soon to be boyfriend (soon means it's only 7 epsiodes 12-21 minutes long).
The cinematography was stunning, the symbolism worth noting and overall the actors did an excellent job. I won't spoil the story further, but it's sometimes painful (emotionally) to watch. Overall I can also only recommand to watch this, because it's an nice uplift compared to the crap thai companies are forcing on us (except two shows when I'm writing this review). I hope the extra episodes will be as good as this was.
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FL has ZERO personality
I began to watch this drama mainly for Yang Zi and because this drama had really high reviews. I loved her in Ashes of Love and in the Psychologist but wow. This was such a disappointment. The summary hypes her up to be an amazing programmer who at the age of 19 is creating all sorts of complex AI programs. She also has a huge following for her musical talents. So coming into this, I was excited to see her portray a talented and interesting FL. WRONG. The first episode starts off with love at first sight, which would be fine if not for the cringe ways she tried to get the ML to notice her. I thought it would improve after the first couple episodes but halfway through the show, she still has no personality outside of the ML. She acts more like a lost puppy than a college student.Seriously, the lengths she goes to to get the ML's attention and affections are such a huge turn off for me. It's like she has no life outside of the ML and she blindly chases him even though he treats her like shit for the first half of the drama. He doesn't communicate, can't express himself, is arrogant and a whole bunch more, but all she can say is, "He's perfect and has no flaws."
The age gap between them is also problematic, but the biggest headache for me is FL's lack of maturity and stalkerish ways that made me want to drop the series. Ended up watching it all the way through bc of Hu YiTian and the supporting cast. So disappointed they put Yang Zi in a role like this. At least with Ashes of Love, while she was naive, she wasn't brain dead and blindly in love with ML.
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DARK N DEEP PLOT
Why is there not a single review in this beautiful movie? AnywaysI just watched this for matsuyama but this movie has what japanese are good at while making anything : DEPTH N DARKNESS.
A little violence not much to scare u off so dnt mind it .its a serious crime story with a complicated romance .
I have seen males playing these kind of roles n it suits them but it really makes me excited when this role is played by a female n she is a brilliant actor she played this role very well from beginning to when she changed n after that.
I loved the backstory n how they are made, i was never so excited for flashbacks n backstories before.
Characters,chemistry , music, atmosphere, acting all are 10/10 for me. Its a must watch.
Not a good review but i really hope u watch the movie.
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Everyone Loves Me - Not
The end was mawkish and crap.The turtle bit was not even half checked with Google and veterinary advise: anyway, the stray dog "shelter" bit, too, was half baked stupid. What sort of audience was targeted there
The love and hate in first episodes was best part, before it went dragging.
The script was not good and I can't stand Zhou Ye's nods in many episodes. as if she wanted to imitate old fashioned bobble-head staring dog dolls glued on car dashboards Her pouting and eating like she can't put food into her mouth without half of it popping out, and then adding mewling sounds in lieu of answers to table companions (such as in ep6 22:02). Can't she shake out of those nasty habits, which mar much of her "romantic" acting parts?
Lin Yi was average here: must have grown tired by the repetitiousness and drag. His best looks : in black and leather in episode 9, and in the FPS combat gaming parts.
I think all "chemistry" was on him, not on Zhou Ye who did her parts as if they were a chore.
Kissing and sweet scenes : forget it! Even the silk nightgown moment was quickly "covered" and put away. When "Gu Xun" wanted to explain his mistake while cornering "Qianling" against a wall in the office -!!!- (same ep.9), she looked mildly puzzled (when she should have been reacting with a slap and a sharp lash of outspokenness). That scene was quickly toned down by "Jiang Junnan" dismissing it all with the technical Japanese term : "kabedon" (sighing) as if that was just goofy and acceptable behavior on the office floor...
Anyway this is a forgettable item; nothing to learn from it, except patience faced with lackluster script, subpar acting, and time loss.
7 from me, because I still like Lin Yi and thought Melody Tang was cute and playing well in character for her part, and I don't like to rate below 5.
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Compelling historical drama with some strong performances
This probably won't appeal to some people since it's a serious drama, becomes increasingly depressing and doesn't have a strong romance. However I'm still thinking about the characters after finishing it and despite some of the flaws, it's probably one of the better historical dramas I've seen in a while.As most viewers probably know, this show was supposed to air in 2022 but was pulled at the last minute so it's not clear how much of this final version has changed or been edited.
Set during the death throes of the Qing dynasty it explores the various factions - royalist and revolutionist - trying to change China for the better. The five leads have diverse personalities, flawed characters and are not obvious heroes. Alot of the early action takes place in Japan, which is unusual for a C-drama (usually the Japanese are portrayed as obvious villains but here they are more nuanced), and everything looks big-budget with loads of extras, carriages, costumes and lots of period detail.
All five leads are interesting. It's strange to see Li Xian play the rather grey character of nobleman Liang Xiang instead of his usual hero roles. Then we have the rabid bomb-making anarchist, the idealist revolutionary, the pragmatic opportunistic soldier and the woman who inadvertantly becomes a revolutionist and is involved with three of the male leads. The FL's character is very different to what we usually see in C-dramas, both passive and active, and surely non-conformist for the times. There were some scenes when I did want to slap her and say " wake up woman!" but generally you root for her.
There are important real historical figures as well as the fictional ones, which made me read up on my Chinese history. Apparently, even Liang Xiang is based on a real person.
The acting is of a good standard and this is clearly a quality production. However, it does suffer from editing and sometimes I just wanted to see more of Shuhong rather than the endless military politicking but I did not fast forward once which says alot.
Recommended if you enjoy historical dramas based on fact and don't expect to see a big romance.
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If the first season revolves around the love of the female lead, in this season, it is more focused nf the love the manager has for the Ahomiya (Amemiya)..
It is romantic, funny (in some ways) and will make you realize that individuality among lovers is very important...
Love and respect goes hand in hand...
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They say that after a really good show, you can't say that it was a success if the audience bursts into applause, but if they remain silent even for a few seconds after it's done. This IS the kind of movie that after you're done watching you'll find yourself gazing at the closing credits, reflecting on what you just saw.
Usually when I want to watch a movie I don't read the description, nor do I watch any trailer. I just search up the poster, read some opinions and then I'm good to go. Therefore, I had no idea what to expect of this movie, since I didn't know the story at all, and I'm kind of glad I did. It was much more enjoyable.
I think the cast was well chosen. Kora Kengo and Horikita Maki were perfect for their roles. I was surprised to see Horikita Maki play such a serious role (as I was being used with her only playing roles like Ashiya Mizuki in 'Hana Kimi'), but it suited her.
Overall, "Into the white night" reminded me of "Confessions", another one of my favourite movies. What they have in common is not the story, but the way they were directed; it was beautifully shot, in my opinion, and they captured the scenes perfectly, thus managing to convey the right emotions.
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If it wasn't for Yiwha ....
Yet AGAIN I was deceived by reviews.....whyyyyy, people....why????This BL has SO many problems I don't even know where to start....the frustration snow balled until the last episode lol Some dramas are frustrating, sure, but at least they are good...but this one OMG.
Quick summary of the characters in this BL....read and decide if you want to watch:
- Korn: gay, likes to suffer, sometimes a pushover, will forgive and forget 5min after an incident, will put up a lot for his love
- Knock: straight but gay lol, really dumb, naĂŻve, will believe everyone except his best friend/lover, sucker, treats Koen like shit 9/10 times, has the most insane logic
- Plern Pleng: Knock's crazy bitch and probably psychotic girlfriend, dated the guy for more or less 2 months, snake oil salesmen lol, manages to control everyone around her, smart but the devil, make things 100x bigger than it actually is
- Yiwha: the only real and honestly relatable character, 100% bff/ally vibes, main character energy
- Dr. Bright: disgusting, EWWWWW, boy hunter, likes to give gang bangs as bday gift to "loved" ones, very disturbing character, knows how to exploit innocent people, just a big NO.
- Farm: the innocent boy that was gang banged by his "bf" and his boy toys, looks and acts like a kid until the last episode, has a change of personality after the gang bang...just awful.
Everybody else is just meh....I'm not even going to comment.
I can imagine how hard it must be when people have that "am I gay?" moment....I never had that experience so I can't really comment on that, but the way that Knock's character was developed was just very annoying to watch.....he was SO dumb it made me angry. That boy had zero clue about anything....like, HOW? I really don't like characters like that. He knew he loved Korn but decided to stay with Plern because "she's a girl who doesn't deserve to be broken up with"....COME OOOOON!!!! All of his friends and Korn saying she's a lying bitch cunt, but he still didn't believe them until the last ep lololol ANNOYING.
The whole BrightFarm relationship was disturbing! Honestly YUCK from the first scene to the last. Made my skin crawl.
I have NO clue why people recommend this show....basic plot, badly written dialogs, annoying characters, weak development .... no, thank you. NEXT!
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Rain in the Garden of Eden results in A Rainbow among the Clouds
Heads-up: This drama has THE ultimate binge factor. Although I watched it as it aired, I am certain that the experience of binging it would make me rate it a 10/10. Therefore I would recommend binging it to become fully immersed (if you like that).-------
TFF is a drama like no other. Sensual, delicate and touching.
Melodrama, terminal illness, FL chases ML first, large gap. Sounds like a sea of tropes, right? - Well for once I forgot those were 'tropes' because everything felt so real. This production managed to create such a beautiful story, combining alluring cinematography that makes one grateful for being able to see color with all the flowers and scenery, down to casting actors that take their roles seriously (I'd recommend watching BTS of Jerry Yan, he truly put a lot of thought into this role) and have amazing chemistry.
To call this drama a masterpiece is an understatement in my opinion, portraying deep connections and true love.
The script is not one of many words, but many emotions. It's in the details. He Ran fell in love with life again and for her Xiao Han was life. The Voice she heard gave her strength again. I read some comments early on criticizing her infatuation with him and it kind of made me realize how this drama targets an audience that knows how hard life can be, and how a tiny spark of hope can be the breath of fresh air you yearned for so desperately.
The OST has officially become my favorite of all time and will likely be on my daily playlist for a while.
+ I also loved the scenes in the inner side of the country, it's a first for me hearing a chinese accent that is neither mandarin nor taiwanese and the traditions were beautiful.
---SPOILER---
I also want to comment on the mother-daughter relationship. She was so overlooked and hated at times(by viewers) for being over protective but as her story was revealed my heart both broke and was mended. It provides a great example of how the pain of others' affects another. She not only saw her daughter be at the brink of death but she also lost her husband the same way. How can one live one after that? She is incredibly strong and human, with her ways to continue on. Her story towards the later part was so comforting. I wish everyone would find someone who takes them with all their pain.
The only minus point this drama has for me was that there is a big contrast between the atmosphere and cinematography when it comes to the story of HR + XH and everything else. Whenever HR+XH were together it didn't feel like a cdrama, even down to the way it was shot. The way the director introduced the ML in combination with light, music and angles. Damn that was so beautiful.
However the SML, college scenes and the moms' workplace were all too familiar.
All in all this wasn't bad it just slightly disrupted the perfect illusion the drama created for me.
+ and of course the censorship also had it's finger on the editing button. But luckily many of these scenes can be viewed on the discussion thread. It would have been ever better if they were kept in.
About the ending:
It's up to ones' interpretation if it's a sad or happy ending. I personally believe in the first but it was done soo beautifully that it almost didn't hurt. The creators didn't milk the situation to death by trying to create a tear filled final episode, rather it made me think - Wow, this was so beautiful and colorful. Like their love for each other.
The snow scene for me was the indicator (alongside the Lucid Dream OST) that their love story concluded in the garden of Eden, a magical place that only be reached in the after life.
Quote from the drama:
"Have you heard of this?
When you meet someone
as bright as a rainbow,
everyone else will seem like clouds.
That's love."
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Amazing Tibet biking documentary
I love to know how Zhang Zhehan is throughout the best Tibet biking documentary. The people he met, the stunning landscapes of Tibet captured by him, and the words showing his lovely and thoughtful mind, all let me know the importance of life keep going and no regret to the past. I wish I can see more about this kind of documentary by the director Zhang Zhehan.It's really the August I imagined, and it's not just that August. Listening to Zhang Zhehan talk about every August he encountered in his life, until that moment. He pushed August into the abyss with us, watching him climb up the iceberg step by step, with endless cliffs next to him, as if that August had been embodied in this way, and then restarted in August of 2022, and finally August of 2023. Arriving in his dream Tibet, I seemed to be inspired by his indomitable spirit and revived, just like I had experienced the past three years with him.
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This movie had a quite âcommercialâ mood, meaning they made the overall tone light enough to reach a wide range of viewers. The directing, the cinematography, the atmosphere, even the story and the core message itself werenât explored in depth. Personally I think It lacked personality, considering the fact that I enjoy independent films where messages are deeper and cinematography targets my âaesthetic trashâ self. In the story here thereâs only a bit of romance, a bit of friendship, a bit of comedy, a bit of family and a bit of medical, portrayed in a rather vibrant palette. Nothing particularly stood out. Nothing deep.
However, this could be a good point for someone whoâs looking for a rather light watch. Itâs really nothing grand like its *wrong* choice of tagline: âWhat if you get 10 chances to change your past?â It doesnât drive you to calculate your ability for 10 times time-travel that much.
Acting was really great in here. The leads Kim Yoonseok and Byun Yohan were alive in their roles. Other actors also did well. The music didnât stand out to me, but it wasnât awkward. It also seems like an easy choice to rewatch, but I donât really know what Iâd rewatch this for. Iâm not a re-watcher so donât mind my score.
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One of the things I enjoyed most in this is when the main character goes into disguise and does chivalrous hero stuff. Theres usually lots of hilarious content when he does that though it only happened about twice if I remember correctly. This is your basic regular-martial-artist-turned-super strong/strongest-after-journeying-the-wuxia-world-and-learning-skills-from-some-master(s) type of story. So if you're a fan for that kind of stuff (or Jin Youngs novel adaptations) you should definitely give this a go. It has all that ridiculous martial arts with people flying all over the place (aka wire-fu) and explosions happening lol (like actual explosions and not a lot of the crappy cg effects you see in Chinese drama these days due to budget restraints or whatever).
Overrall production was very well done. The characters immersed with expertly/appropriately designed costumes (got to respect actresses as nuns with actual shaved heads, or at least wearing props that make them look bald), so many awesomely choreographed martial arts fights, lots of non-cg explosions, so many epic moments and the build ups that lead to them, and a really good love story that pondered some challenging questions; The love of a man from a righteous sect and a woman from an evil sect and what it meant to be considered righteous/evil in such a time. Oh and theres bloody conspiracies.
Major flaw with this series is that there are parts of the story that seem out of place or missing. It could have you confused like you missed an episode even though you didn't. An example would be when the next episode does not continue from the cliffhanger of the previous episode (Unfortunately this happens quite a bit during the first few episodes and then once/twice in the later eps). I think they might have shot too much footage and had a hard time deciding what should be included in the final cuts. And thus parts of the story might have been cut off. This was my only major gripe with the drama even though it still ends up being my fav wuxia series. Also watch out for episodes being mismatched on streaming sites e.g. a video would read ep 39 but itâll be listed under episode 38 in most sites (this exact problem is present in most sites except youre streaming on maybe dramafever, which probably has better subs as well)
Still the overall experience definitely makes this a must watch. So if you can ignore the major flaw I mentioned and make it past a few eps, you just might find yourself an enjoyable wuxia adventure with a love story youâd be happily shipping.
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