1Last Twilight but Our First Twilight
"Last Twilight" emerges as an exceptional masterpiece, leaving an inerasible impact on us viewers. The year-long wait for this series was undoubtedly worth it, as it took time to craft its brilliance. My admiration for JimmySea, immersed by "Vice Versa," only deepened with "Last Twilight." Upon experiencing the series, I was left astounded. Jimmy and Sea surpassed my expectations for BL dramas, showcasing a well-developed chemistry not only on screen but also in real life. Sea's portrayal of a person with a visual disability demonstrated remarkable improvement, adding depth and authenticity to the narrative."Last Twilight" arrived at the perfect moment amidst a sea of hit-or-miss series. It concluded my 2023 on a high note and ushered in my 2024, infusing the transition with a renewed sense of optimism and possibility. What more is there to say? To truly understand the magic in "Last Twilight," one must embark on the journey themselves, engaging in its allure and experiencing its wonders firsthand.
Struggling under substantial debt, Mhok (Jimmy), a technical college student, seeks a well-paying job and lands a position as a caregiver for Day (Sea), a badminton player grappling with partial blindness caused by infectious keratitis. Mhok, in contrast to other candidates, shows no signs of pity for Day. As they spend more time together, a profound connection forms between them. However, when Day receives the news that he has approximately 180 days left until complete vision loss, the challenges ahead will test their bond's strength.
"And now here is my secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." - Day (A reference from the Little Prince)
Read more here from LauLastWonderland. This is an excellent review to clear up the misconception, especially with the last few episodes. (Spoilers ahead) https://mydramalist.com/profile/LauLastWonderland/review/336399
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This review may contain spoilers
Yes but no...but why not.
Ok it's low budget, we got it. I saw better end of studies projects. It seems to be shot with a smartphone and two ringlights. The sound is the worst ever heard (you can almost make it into a game: subbed? Not subbed? Do you hear the film crew behind?).The script was written on a corner of the table.
Do you want clichés ? You have it. The rich, somewhat rebellious hunk, the poor guy who succeeded through hard work. The mother who puts pressure. The nasty ex girlfriend really nasty. The best friend in love but ultimately too much ...
The editing is random.
Sometimes I was "WTF?" or "oh wait, really?". Sometimes I laughed (when it was not funny).
The acting is cringey (especially for supporting roles).
At least, the end is not tragic if not really happy (and we applaud this detail!).
BUT, curiously, despite all these faults, I enjoyed the series. I think it owes a lot to the two main players. They are cute, they have good chemistry and seemed to get along really well. They are doing well and we get attached to their character. There are some skinship too which is emphazised.
AND it's BL Chinese.
So you liked Addicted? Don't expect to see a replica. But we can salute the sincere effort of the whole team to have tried to produce something despite all the restrictions. I know they had a lot of problems producing this series so I want to support them.
Fighting, China! You can do it ! Produce a good BL.
Soon.
Perhaps.
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Then, somewhere in between Just Between Lovers took a turn down the typical K-Drama alley. It became overly melodramatic and sappy. In order to create a tragic hero, they piled every problem possible in the world on his beautiful shoulders and there was only so much I could buy before I started giving it the side-eye. Physical health problems gave precedence to mental. I won’t say that it romanticized mental illness but it did gloss over it all. PTSD does not randomly vanish like this.
However, despite all this, one thing that was very clear to me at the end of it all was how much I enjoyed this show throughout. I was even more relieved than disappointed because of all the tropes it chose to follow because they provided the much needed escapism we look for in dramas. Even though, it dealt with heavy issues it didn’t drown in it. There was always a comedic gesture, a heartwarming moment and a swoon-worthy interaction between the leads to balance things out.
I think this drama had one of the best K-Drama romances ever. This was exactly the kind of relationship I fall for. It was a beautiful slow burn, where two people grow individually and together. They go through obstacles, they have their highs and lows and they become stronger through them- both in harmony and independently. And, it was all absolutely beautiful to watch. I’ve never been this starved for skinship between the leads and when it finally happened, it was so sweet and intimate that it was worth the wait.
Both the main leads were very dear to me. Gang Doo was simply an angel. I don’t think people like him exist in this world anymore but it would be a huge relief if they did. Moon Soo, even though some of her actions at the end were questionable was undeniably a sweetheart. There were some side characters I was lowkey annoyed with (Think: Second Male Lead, Second Female lead (though she had her moments) and the female lead’s parents) because of how much they victimized themselves even when other people had it far worse. But at the same time, I also adored a lot of other characters. Like basically everyone related to Gang Doo; his grandmother, his Doona, his brother figure and his team leader. You know what they say, good people are surrounded by good people.
As far as the acting goes, I won’t say it was exceptionally outstanding or that I was floored by it. Their inexperience and freshness shined through however, this worked out in their favor. Because the way the two portrayed their characters was so sincere and natural that it didn’t fail to capture the audience and touch hearts.
One of the best things about the show is the OST. I really recommend watching this show in a print that has the songs subbed while they play in the background. The lyrics are so meaningful to the plot and the play timing is perfect. So when you know what the songs are saying at a particular moment, it gives all the more depth and insight to the story. And it’s simply gorgeous.
So ultimately, Just Between Lovers is a show about healing, friendship, love, serenity and brilliant dialogues. Even though it develops slowly and maximizes emotion, it’s never boring. There are some tears here and there but with that comes so much more hope and so much more warmth.
Definitely recommend.
Enjoy!
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First, there are SOOOO many unnecessary story arcs that didn’t need to happen. They literally did NOTHING haha Dr. Ruan’s dad dying, for one. Why did he die? Why did they keep that?Another was the story arc with Dr. Ning’s son. All they had to do was just integrate the birth mom into their lives and write her in as just being a part of the new family dynamic. The entire second trip to Africa was utterly a waste of time, memory cards, and money. The story arc between Dr. Cheng and Dr. Ding was fine if they just left it. But no, they had to also be an on again and off again couple. The fact that a REBEL…A WANTED REBEL is openly out and at a candle light vigil at the hospital where there are governmental soldiers present was ridiculous.
The emotional moment of her waking up and discovering he was no where to be found was meant to invoke deep feelings in the viewer but those died long ago in me along with my patience in all the story plot holes, horrible acting, questionable choices, and this weak ass FL character that basically spends her entire adult life following this man like a little puppy. And it NEVER stops. She gives it a try here and there, but it never lasts and is always half hearted.
The drama should have ended with their second walk down the aisle and maybe a glimpse into an overly sweet and completely predictable future of their lives. But no, they dragged this on for another waaay too many episodes.
Twice, they had the doctors perform life and death surgeries on their own loved ones. Is that not allowed??
Why the HECK did the hospital discharge him without notifying his WIFE?! The reason being because she was so exhausted from the stress, surgery, and worry that she finally passed out and slept for three days?! And then for his family to up and disappear with him without so much as a note or ANY communication is sooooo disrespectful and utterly unforgivable. And THEN no one tells her when he wakes up and has amnesia…LOL wtf?! Just because he couldn’t remember her (his WIFE, mind you), they decided to just cut her out of what happened to him?! And her response was “it’s cool. He’s alive, I’m good” LOL no but seriously, THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED. THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID. Yes, I should spoiler that, but I wanted to give you fair warning…THAT is the type of story you are in for if you make poor watching decisions…..like me 😭😆
The constant back and forth flip flop of past and present was hella annoying. They should have just started from the beginning and ONLY gone back with flashbacks on moments where the character finally realized something they weren’t aware of until that moment. Like when she was told about him looking for the necklace.
He forgot how to be a doctor, watched a few surgeries and then remembered, so the hospital was all cool with it and let him perform medical aid?!
I could go on, but most of my frustrations are due to the fact that I didn’t just let it drop LOL. It was bad from the get go, but I wanted to wait and give it a few more episodes. Then before I knew it, it was too late. I kept hoping it would get better, but it never did. In fact, it got worse. It was as though the writers gave up, realized they had all these episodes left and just started throwing story lines on a wall and they just said “what the heck, we will put it all in!”
Or maybe the writers just didn’t know how to end it and basically just kept writing and the Production kept shooting haha
It’s a mess of a drama. The FL never grows a stronger spine and her entire being revolves around this one man - from start to finish. That part never changes. This is not romantic. This is sad and dangerous for younger women who could fall into the trap that this is how you should love a person. What is acceptable in relationships. What is expected. 🤮
4/10. Don’t waste your time or your brain cells. Go rewatch something else that you know you will enjoy. You’ll have spent your time in a much wiser fashion.
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That was bad.
I think everyone here was in the same boat, wondering why on earth we were watching this, and yet we did. For me, it was about the discussion section, which was far more entertaining than the series. This wasn't the worst BL I've ever seen, but it was the most boring and pointless.I'll start with negatives and end on positives, if I can think of any.
- There was no plot. None. Nothing happened the entire season. Well, one thing happened, but I'm putting it under positives.
- Even given there was no plot, the writing was truly terrible. Nothing really made sense. Like Kit and Mark practicing to be apart for almost the entire season. If there was a reason why anyone was watching this, I imagine it was MarKit, and we got almost none of them. There's an episode where a third of the runtime is taken up by a discussion about putting on a play. Not an actual play, but discussing the details of a production, like how the props would be done, and who would play which characters. Much of the rest of the episode was people texting each other. Riveting.
- The main character, Wayu, is the most useless person imaginable. He doesn't do anything, can't do anything, and he has no agency. He's everything wrong with the seme-uke dynamic.
- The romances were so tame that most viewers have likely had racier relationships in primary school. They are nauseatingly saccharine and totally passionless. The only moment of heat the entire season was when Pok attacked Tong in the shower.
- Sandee was criminally underused. Bank was easily the best actor in this, and by the end of the series even he'd given up.
- Big, who plays Pha, never once took off his shirt, and that bod needs to be shared. You'd think laying in a hospital bed for an entire season that someone would give him a sponge bath at some point. Speaking of which, why would you bother to have a character that does absolutely nothing but lie in a hospital bed for an entire season? Although I'm not complaining because his death, funeral, and tombstone are 95% of what's good about this series.
Positives:
- Bank as Sandee. The way he can pack malice into a subtle look, or mischief, loneliness, or all of the above made for a character that much of the audience was cheering on, and he was the villain out to destroy everyone. Sadly, he failed.
- There were things in here that were so bad that they were good. Kit and Wayu go to see Pha at the hospital. and as they arrive, his crying mother is exiting the room, and she says "he's gone! (i.e. dead)". So the boys go in and have a conversation with Pha, who has either resurrected, or he had been asleep and his mother just assumed he was dead and didn't bother to check. It's a good thing they're Christians and didn't have him cremated prematurely.
When he did kick the bucket, his funeral involved plopping onto a lawn a tiny casket that might possibly fit a small child, which suggests they had Pha dismembered and stuffed into it. I guess Pha's mother was on a budget and decided to forego gravediggers. She also didn't attend the funeral. That along with her apparent indifference to whether or not he was dead at any given moment created the impression she didn't much care for him.
In a later episode, it appears that wild animals dragged off the coffin as they are wont to do (which is why you need grave diggers), and in its place was the most hysterically funny tombstone you will ever see. That sounds exaggerated, I know. But it was. I couldn't tell if it was a novelty cake or made of styrofoam, except whatever production assistant made it accidentally ran over it with his car and tried to tape it together or something.
Story: 1 - There isn't one.
Acting: 5 - I hate to criticize actors, but none of them except Bank (Sandee) put in a good performance. I think it was probably terrible directing, because I've seen some of these guys do good work elsewhere. But here the directions seems to have been "keep your face and voice as blank as possible, pause for ten seconds between every phrase you speak, and always move unnecessarily slowly."
Music: 1 - you will want to smash things listening to that same two bars of music over and over for 12 episodes.
Rewatch Value: 1 - forget the gun to the head - you'd have to threaten to nuke a country to get me to watch this again. Except the funeral scene. That I could watch again.
Overall: 3. The suggested was 2, but a score that low would have to be for something aggressively awful, instead of passively awful like this series.
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A MASTERPIECE FOREVER
If you are a c-drama lover Do Not Miss this series highly recommended it is simply a masterpiece the story of yanpoyue from an arrogant highlyselfconfident army boy who thinks that he is and has to be the best bcz he has to rely only on himself in his life and doesnt know the importance of his comrades to a mature soldier who eventually becomes down to earth understands the meaning of teamwork and learned to value his comrades the character development of yanpoyue is greatThis drama has shown every aspect of a soldier's life with a great perfection and detail
This is package full of:- bromance courage,selfconfidence,teamwork, hardwork,passion,motivation and many more amazing life lessons are conveyed very well through this drama
Yang yang has given his 1000% for this drama the hardwork he has put in for his dream role is really commendable
All the actor and supporting actor did a fantastic job in giving justice to thier roles i got connected to every character of this drama
One of the best work of yang yang so far and the best military drama till date
This drama does'nt have and does'nt need any romance its bromance love respect care for the comrades is more than enough to make people connect and fall in love with this drama
This One is surely one of my Forever favourite
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Q10 is surreal, poetic, highly amusing, thought-provoking and surprising . It's brilliantly acted too, which adds to its delicious oddity. It doesn't have even one unpleasant character: they are all very weird and very human, at times histerically hilarious and at others wonderfully deep.
I'm not sure whom I would recommend this drama to; however, I'm certain it won't do for those looking for a rom-com, for an uncomplicated plot, for simple entertainment, for shine or for glamour. The one and only requisite to approach it, is to do so with an open mind. If you believe that people have each their own sound, that calling for help loud enough will make somebody come to the rescue, that death is just a way of thinking and that you achieve a goal because you want and not because you can, then "kiuto" is for you.
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Smart Demons + Stupid Humans = Extraordinary Mess
Watched this to see Xu Kai act but just like in a previous series of his; his and everyone else's acting was great but the story itself was a hot mess. Wish he or whomever chooses for him, chose better. The only reason this even got a 6.5 and not lower was because of the literally only 3 pros. Otherwise, it was like the mighty morphin power rangers and mortal kombat took LSD and spit this out.Pros: Leads chemistry, the actors hard work which included great fight scenes, and costumes (except for the Halloween store costume lion for Uncle Tang), and good OSTs. No other pros.
Cons: Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for smart antagonists but not when the protagonists are so ridiculously idiotic. Just about everyone was led by the nose by the demons the ENTIRE show. Even when our ML told them otherwise, the Elders still chose to believe evil people. The amount of times the good guys failed to understand something very simple made you want to run your face into the wall. The entire series made a ton of no sense because the bad guys were running the show while the good guys were just walking around like zombies and talking in circles.
Did just about everyone really deserve to die; KYY's death in the last episode was pointless and meaningless. Some really did die as heroes but what made much of it senseless is that if they put two and two together sooner and made it 4 instead of 7, they could have made things happen sooner and survived. It made me feel like whoever the writer was, had no clue how to write a novel or one that's understandable or cohesive. Ji Rong staying alive and even her death at the hands of probably the show’s stupidest character, made me feel like I lost brain cells. DXY warned his brother and the two elders something was fishy about her from nearly the beginning and yet both uncles died because of her.
The sets and CGI looked very cheap. The words chucked up on the screen each time a new magic trick was used was eye roll worthy. Welcome to the 90s and not in a good way! Situ Hong's ruthlessness was completely ignored and his death and that of the weird random cultivator that at first clung to XY was completely pathetic. Both were sucked dry for big bad demon God that most of the time sounded like an alien cat that sucked in a helium balloon. We were all expecting a fight between him and XY but yeah, why bother?
Demon Ao Lan turned himself into a psychedelic Venus flytrap to try and kill XY in the last episode and it had me laughing. Little Shop of Horrors that was filmed in the 1970s had better CGI than this mess. I shed a tear for Shifu sacrificing himself at the end as out of all the guardians, he was the only one that infiltrated the demon clan and didn't do too poorly. Yes, happy ending for leads and the maybe 3 other living people but what did I watch for 40 episodes?
Would I recommend? No way. Even if you are a fan of the leads or anyone else, please find something else. Leads chemistry is not enough to hold this thing together.
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Story-10
The story was a definite 10 for me! I just loved the romance a lot and the love scenes were defiantly super cute!!! The chemistry between the two make me hope that they are a couple off-screen as well! In all honesty, this was defiantly better than the remake.....and the story affirmed that for me! The story has an equilibrium between the romance and comedy which is actually quite tricky to master...but they managed to pull it of exquisitely!
Acting/Cast-10
I absolutely loved the actors and actresses! They suited their roles perfectly! I absolutely loved the chemistry between the two! I will defiantly be watching more of their dramas in the future! The actress does a very good job at pulling off Aom-am's character and the actor also does a very good job when acting as Mike.
Ultimately, the acting was a great plus-it wasn't fake nor was it uninteresting! It seemed realistic and thats why i absolutely loved the show!
Music-9
The music was really good-the only thing i wanted was another song because the same song would of been played at least 2-3 times during a single episode.....however I liked the song and it was cute because the pair actually sang the song themselves :)
Overall-9.5
I loved this drama soooo much and it has been so long since I have encountered a really good rom/com!!! I highly recommend this to anyone in search of a good laugh and 'aww' moments!
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My heart was felt pounding for entirely different reasons:
- The growth of the characters
- The pure and honest depth of the story
- A sense of warming accomplishment communicated by the great acting
With a very easy to follow story that's both believable and motivating, completed by relatable, developing characters whose interactions with each other made me both cry and then grin, Page Turner encapsulates everything a short drama should be.
The story feels mostly predictable but there are certainly twists and surprises! The music is of course fantastic. The acting, I expected no less! And I'd certainly rewatch the whole thing again at some point just to get those butterflies again *cough*andwatchaperkyJiSooagain*cough*. It was a great ride. But be warned, the ending may not be all that you expect it to be.
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THE BEST LEGAL COURTROOM DRAMA EVER!
Are you a fan of the American legal thriller TV series HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER? Then, LAW SCHOOL is definitely for you. Not a remake, but the premise of the drama and the primary set-up is inspired by the said English series.Law School had been one of the most anticipated drama of the year 2021, that too a rare legal courtroom thriller drama. And everyone can see how it has paid off to everyone's expectations. Kim Myung Min, Kim Bum and Ryu Hye Young are indeed the reason all of us were damn sure about the quality drama it'll be. What a powerful cast to begin with!
The very first scene of the very first episode of this drama; that one single scene where the writer and the director decided to show the faces of the cast for every major character and proved what the class and standard of their drama will be. That was so lovely of a scene to witness and made me feel woah. The production actually succeeded in dragging us into the drama.
Law School has a straicase plot development which means, it's neither steady storyline or a combination of connecting plots; rather a series of related events where everything is revealed in a step by step manner leading to the main climax in the end. I loved the way every character in it catched up to a new event that they were completely unaware of, resonated it on the individual level utilizing law that they study, gave it a trail for good and finally let it go.
Law School has the typical urban thriller editing but they keep the intense mood up all the time by running the screenplay at the apt speed, hence making it interesting and not boring.
To be honest, the first 2 episodes felt a bit dull and confusing. They keep going forward and backward in time, multiple times which didn't allow me to catch up to what exactly was happening. But it caught momentum from the 3rd episode and got better since then. And from the 6th episode, it actually became very interesting and I enjoyed watching.
Character development is a thing that's been shown for only limited characters among a huge number of cast but that's fruitful given how they changed from facile and one dimensional beings to stronger individuals with the drama's progression. Notably, the screentime distribution is even for all the characters, the lead trio being the ones to get slightly more duration; one of the handful dramas where both male and female characters are equally emphasised and well balanced. A major credit to the writer for that.
Kim Myung Min being the arrogant and most lawful man (in the entire world), might make your blood boil to the point that you might wanna smash him down but before you realize, he shall capture your heart with his badguy charisma (I've actually fallen for him :P). DO NOT expect to see much romance between Kim Bum and Hye Young because the drama ain't about that though Kim Bum sometimes love to flirt with Hye Young as he kind of admires her a lot. On the other side, Hye Young who is unaware of her fluttering heart for Kim Bum, is always annoyed by Kim Bum and herself is so annoying, haha. Her character development is notable for she grows to being a righteous law person from a girl, not good at studies.
Let's talk about the legal aspects. I have always felt that not many people watch pure legal dramas unless it has a major part of romance and melodrama but if we are talking about a courtroom drama or movie, it has to be like Law School. Some people might wanna give up because they keep blabbering about the criminal codes, constitutional laws, articles and sections at a rate that you have to pause many times to understand and channelise the things but trust me, that's what happenes in a real courtroom. They have included and discussed a lot of clauses but they also made sure to make us understand them with examples and elaborations even during the trials. They've also wisely introduced the shortcomings in the existing law & order, thus implying a need of change in them. This work is hence highly commendable.
It's done pretty well even if you judge it as a thriller. They kept increasing our urge & curiosity to know who the actual culprit is. Unlike many thrillers, you might hesitate to predict and make theories about this drama because everything is simultaneous and transparent and which is why I thought the revelation of the culprit will come as a huge shock, but not gonna lie, it was disappointing. It turned out to be an already very bad guy so I wasn't like woah. But I doesn't matter because it's primarily a courtroom drama and evem after the revelation, it didn't become boring or anything rather more cases were added on the same episide as compensation which never felt like getting dragged at all.
The background sound editing and screenplay is nice. The direction is amazing as well that kept people going, especially for viewers like me who are into binging. But I think this drama is a huge disadvantage for those who watch ongoing. It's not frustrating as there's nothing to predict or think about and honestly you won't have to wait for a week eagerly to watch the next episode.
Law School is indeed one of the best thrillers of 2021 and overally among all the thrillers too and let me call it the BEST LEGAL COURTROOM KDRAMA EVER PRODUCED.
P. S. I sometimes got the DEAD POETS SOCIETY vibes because of the way Prof. Yang gathered his students and they even had a hideout in the copy room. HAHAHA
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Raging comedic banter, battle and romance. I highly recommend!
Cho Yeo Hwa (Lee Ha Nee), lives as a dutiful widow by day and by night she's running across rooftops fighting criminals for the poor secretly. One night, she got into a chaotic fight, she landed in the arms of a palace guard, Park Soo Ho (Lee Jong-won). Unbeknownst to both, there’s a secret in the past left to be unfold. As Yeo Hwa continues living her lifestyle, Soo Ho keeps running into her, wanting to know who she really is… will she be able to keep her disguise?This drama is consistently entertaining! While I expected the show to be as fun as it was, I didn’t expect to be immediately connected with our characters and their motivations. I love Yeo Hwa, her mother-in-law and her quirky friend, too. That she's widowed due to a tragic past, controlled by her mother-in-law and almost 100% locked inside her house, it all sounds depressing, but the storytelling is so so fresh. Also it's interesting to see like how our male lead, Soo Ho with his role to serve justice but he's bind by a lot of rules, while he sees this mysterious person just do it each night.
The intro and the epilogue scenes are A+! Each episode is meaningful with steady pacing. Interesting twists happened here and there. There's a whole lot of wuxia-style fight scenes; flying to the roof, hitting people by acorns, and I enjoyed a lot. The action scenes are funny, also the little gestures, sound effect, visual effect, they're all worked together perfectly. The romance is fun, low-stake, and heart-fluttering! Every romantic scene counts. Not much complicated intrigue until the last few episodes, where it was resolved but falters flat. Though so, the whole experience of my watching is truly entertaining!
-Feb 2024, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge
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It has one of the most intelligently written plots that one can ever come across. It's psychologically heavy and demands a mature audience. The drama chooses to look at its theme in a very philosophical manner; it chooses to take its audience to the core of a damaged human soul, and then slowly analyzes its each and every layers. As each layer unfolds, the audience learns more and more of the truth.
To put it simply, this drama is about mistakes. However, what it focuses on is not the act of making a mistake itself, but rather its effects on both the person who's made the mistake, and the people who've been hurt by it. This might seem very simple, but in actuality it is profoundly complex.
We watch the characters suffer as they fight their inner battles, the battles between love and hate, good and evil, right and wrong. We watch them as they crumble and still try to find their footing. Even though at times it seems futile, we still hope as hard as we can that they will survive this, that somehow everything would turn out to be ok. And I have to add this: what was very impressive was how in the midst of all this, the most humane feeling started to shine ... love; not necessary a romantic love, but the love that one can have for oneself, for the people around him/her, and for the life itself.
The music was simply AMAZING, I cannot think of a better choice of music. Moreover, the acting was outstanding, specially the leads. Before this drama I didn't know any of the male leads, so their breathtaking acting took me off guard. There were times that the slightest change in their expression would make my tears drop or my heart to skip a beat.
I recommend this drama to people who like to dwell in psychological mysteries. People who enjoy brilliantly written stories with meat to chew on, the ones that will leave you thinking not only for hours, but for days and months to come.
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The Great Doctor
52 people found this review helpful
An epic historic love story, playing with time and space. Waggish. Affecting. Wonderful acting.
A special dramaturgical drive given by time travel and parallel worlds are quite common in KDrama. Thus contrasting perspectives from different backgrounds quite regulararly add unconventional fun and extra thrill to story dynamics.Additionally, KDramas like to chose a historically exotic context for its intriguing and romantic stories, while still giving them an epic scope. Even if not always historically exact, these plots offer plenty of material for drama and at the same time convey historical facts and heroes in a colorful dress. Epochal personalities and their impact come to life again. As Korean history goes far back in time, there are yet many more heroic stories to be told...
"Faith or the Great Doctor" combines both, the historical approach as well as playing with time and space in one story. In fact, history is thus presented even more funny and colourfully. On the historic side, this KDrama revolves around the legendary General Choe Yeong (1316-1388) who went down in history as the protector of the Goryeo Empire and its royal family. Incidentally, this is not the only KDrama that has been dedicated to him to date... As early as 1983, a series monument was erected for him in "Gyegook" and "Chu Dong Mama". He is also featured in "Tears of the Dragon" (1998), "Shin Don" (2006), "The Great Seer" (2012), "Jung Dojeon" (2014), and "Six Flying Dragons" (2016). You guessed it, he´s a real hero for the Korean Peninsula.
-------------------- SIDE NOTE: --- General Choe Yeong ---
Known for his strength from an early age, the son of a civil servant learned martial arts and studied books on military strategy. Over the centuries he had finally achieved the status of legendary protector of the Goryeo dynasty. Although he was also exiled for 6 years due to intrigues, in the course of his life this did not prevent him from fighting around 80 more battles in the service of the king. He lost his last battle against his former brother-in-arms, General Yi Seonggye, when he seized power in a coup d'etat in 1388 during the Battle of Liaodong. This was also the birth of the Joseon Dynasty.
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"Faith or the Great Doctor" traces the path and integer character of Choe Yeong, whose motto has been handed down as "consider gold as if it were a stone". It´s obviously not pure poetic freedom when he is portrayed as sincere, stylish and gallant. And also does his combative superiority not seem exaggerated - his skills are historically documented. The focus of this KDrama is rather on the young general. He is not only presented as a strong leader, but as a young man who falls in love with a woman who is almost 10 years older. This (fictional) constellation offers some extra driving dynamics to the romance - as well as a comparably pleasant maturity at times as well.
The title plays with the different language styles in Korean - the old Hanja, which was written in Chinese characters until 1443, and the Hangul writing, which was newly created during the Joseon dynasty (and in which many Hanja terms have been preserved to this day.) So the original title "Sin-ui" may be understood both as 'trust in law and order' or as 'gifted healer'. In this sense, the title not only values Choe Yeong, the protector of law and order in the Goyeo Empire (refering to the Hanja translation), but also the gifted female healer (refering to the meaning in Hangul) - Eun Soo, a cosmetic surgeon from Seoul in 2012.
In the midst of waggish and heartbeat, this epic love story with all sorts of dramatic twists and turns absorbs within an eventful chapter of Korean history. The contrasts between modern and traditional medicine, somehow clashing in the middle of the 14th century, as well as between the almost rebellious, outrageous self-confidence of the by modern Seoul life spoiled doctor Eun Hoo and the ancient court of the Goryeo royal family guarantee 24 episodes of evocative entertainment.
"Faith or the Great Doctor" is an epic historic drama and at the same time playing with time and space. With two wonderful leading actors and more. The perfect mix for an epic Rom+/-Com.
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It will also question whether if we know everything in the future already, Will we still do the same? The answer for me is yes because 'happiness is still happiness'. We still remember that moment as 'happiness' because everything changes but happiness is always in the corner of time.
This movie is one of the best bittersweet love story for this new generation and you will most likely cry after the movie end . Japan has really step up their movie industry with so many quality movie released.
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