Summer Lemongrass
I watched this movie at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival.After the screening, there was a guest session where the director, writer, and lead actors discussed the movie with the audience.
Overall, it's a youth romance movie, so the plot is fairly common—or I should say, very common.
However, the execution of the entire movie wasn’t bad. I liked it.
What I liked:
1. The male and female characters were portrayed as 'normal' high school students, without any over-the-top actions, childish voices, or exaggerated coolness.
2. The male and female leads spoke multiple languages—Taiwanese, English, Spanish, and French—throughout the movie. They’re polyglots, which made me envious!
3. The second male lead was also portrayed as a good character. His moment begging the vet to open the clinic to help the dog of the man the girl he loves cares about was his golden moment. He’s also talented in music.
4. The difficulty of long-distance relationships was realistically portrayed. They drifted apart slowly, breaking up without explicitly saying it.
5. In the reconciliation scene, some people might disapprove of the male lead’s actions, like saying the kiss was without consent, but I support it. His third wish came true. Sometimes, you don’t need explanations—actions can clear the grey areas.
6. The ending was cute.
What I disliked:
1. The title 'I Am the Secret in Your Heart' doesn’t seem fitting. 'Lemongrass of Our Youth' would be better. The English title doesn’t reflect the core of the story. Even by the end, the female lead didn’t know she was the male lead’s childhood friend. Or maybe the title implies that some secrets should remain secrets.
2. The movie’s focus on high school and college/work phases was roughly 2:1, which felt a bit unbalanced. Wanna see more of college-work era.
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This review may contain spoilers
The drama is over but its a beautiful memory which will live on!
i dont prefer romance based dramas/movies much as they have similar storyline with HE/BE, but still i watched this one fr its story & ofcourse RJL, Jeremy.Story:
PY was given the responsibility of making his clan famous, thrive etc by his mother which he complied obediently, until he met JC, he became obsessive (lover kind of) regardless he still kept his clan/mother his priority before JC. His attitude towards JC became better after her master passed away/couldnt save his mother. He got a huge blow whn AC was killed, which led him to fight for his country/injustice/fr bigger cause/ fr people.
Cui Liang had less scenes but they were crucial fr the story. Personally he couldn't fight fr his love due to various reasons.
JC, a free spirited girl gets caught up in btwn. Later as story progresses realises both ML's were using her fr their own selfish desires. Although she's clouded by what she hears vs sees, towards the last quarter realises where her heart truly belongs.
WZ's life was not his to begin with, he dedicated it for the people of yueluo city. Out of all characters his was the most heartbreaking one. Frm him hating her fr spoiling his plans to caring fr her/console, be with her in her difficult times even if his life was at stake/decorating their house & many moreeee was portrayed remarkably.
Acting :
Kudos to all actors, actresses fr playing their characters marvelously.
RJL you chose your character excellently, the one that vil stay in OUR HEARTS FOREVER
((its sad end fr his character BUT do we remember all happy endings of dramas/movies???? ......... this one fr sure we will))
Overall:
Gradual progression of strangers - hating - loving each other, shown beautifully although at start i was skeptical abt the theme of this drama however it kept me hooked till the end.
No matter how much i write it doesnt give full justice to this gem.
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Watched it in two days. Now I am actually sad I've finished it so quickly!
AAAH I LOVED IT. I would definitely rewatch it.
OCN never disappoints.
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I have to say because I legit fell for the male lead I'm really biased even though there are definitely a bunch of issues but for me it didn't really take away from the viewing experience and I had so much fun.
The skin ship is just the best you'll see and the leads had chemistry.
Another problem was the sudden disappearance of Jaspers friend because I got so involved in him and Keifei's arc seeing her with someone else just didn't work. But again I still enjoyed it overall.
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I thought this was going to be a Japanese adaptation of "Sex in the City" which I really hated, but it wasn't. Granted there were some similarities, but not enough to make me think "Oh this is just like, that show." The feel of this drama enticed me from the first episode.. the way its written, makes you feel like your one of the girls, because no matter what, as a woman you will identify with any and all of the character's at some point or other.
Acting wise, I was very impressed with all the actresses, but the most impressed by Karina. I didn't recognize her at first, because she was just so natural, I honestly wonder if she was even wearing make-up for most of the show. Her character was more like me than the other's so I probably identified with her more. Even the supporting actors were good too. The music was really good as well. And I will be re-watching at some point.
Now, why this drama didn't get a perfect score.. At places I found myself saying, "Yeah that's true, but..." I felt like that a lot with this drama, so it could have been written a little better.
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Story: It's based on the Korean movie that was made in 2010. It's cute people using technology & a hopeless romantic girl to help people with love. It's just sweet.
Acting: I'm surprised with Sooyoung(SNSD)'s acting. It was very good. I actually felt some chemistry between the leads. Ah Rang's mini arc was so cute & heartfelt. I felt bad for him after his arc ended. It's not ground breaking, but it was not horrific either.
Music: Even though it's music is not the main theme. It was the one of the factors that made this drama so sweet. Ra.D's song, A Curtain Heart Fluttering, was such an amazing song. So does Jessica(SNSD)'s song, That One Person is You, also sweet song to listen too.
Would I rewatch: I don't always rewatch dramas, but it would be nice to rewatch this in a couple months or so.
Why watch?: The comedy, the romance, the love antics, the different arcs get better & better each time. If you like having second lead-syndrome, then this drama is for you. I did root for Master(second lead)for the main lead girl. But the main leads also have chemistry as well.
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first of all i really liked the idea of an idol playing himself. the story didn't have any big suprises, but it had a nice flow of events and was very enjoyable. it's interesting to see the behind the scenes life of a star and lets face it: we all want to see them being humans, just like you an me, sometimes.;)
i have liked nishikido ryo for a while, but still i was surprised by his acting: i think he is a truly great actor! i loved the kids, especially mei-chan, her character was played really well. the whole family atmosphere was very nice, crazy and fun, like they were a real family.
what i was missing was:
the love-story between nishikido and haru-chan. i mean, okay it was set up that they were already in love, then married and it showed all the problems that come with being in a family. but maybe a few more hugs or a little kiss on the cheek sometimes would have been nice. i really loved the relationship of nishikido and the kids. but they got more love and body contact from him than their own mom! poor haru-chan^^° yeah so basically missing the feelings between the main couple. but okay, i get it.. it's more a family drama and not a romantic love story.
also i think they could have had a little bit more of the guest star thing. it was fun and it would have been a nice fan-service!also the rest of kanjani8 should have at least met nishikido's family.
even though i am not a big fan of kanjani8 maybe they could have showed more of them being in a concert or.. dunno.. doing fun stuff together. but i guess there is enough of that in japanese tv already.^^°
the music was mostly from kanjani8 of course and went very well with the story.
i wouldn't rewatch it... unless i am missing my family and want to see another family having fun...or i want to see nishikido ryo's face :P
all in all it was a nice family drama with funny and touching moments. i'll recommend it to anyone who wants to take a break from overly emotional love stories and of course to fans of nishikido ryo!;D
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This one is an insane tear-jerker but also belly-acher
This movie has EVERYTHING.It made me laugh and made me cry SO many times over just the one and a half hours. My mom cried. My brother cried. It was a crying fest in the theater I was in. No one left their seats until the ending credits were over because of how we were still reeling from our emotions.
The characters made me just fall in love with them and their story. The acting is INCREDIBLE, especially from the little girl. She’s just adorable and thinking of her makes me tear up again lol. Her precious relationship with her father teaches us so many things about what we should be grateful for in life- namely love, life itself, and each other.
Being Chinese, the English title didn’t make sense to me until I watched the movie because the direct translation of the Chinese title 人生大事 is “The Big(gest) Thing In Life.” But “Lighting Up The Stars” makes so much sense and I don’t think I could come up with a better title.
The delve into Sichuan culture specifically was also heartwarming to see on the big screen. I don’t often get to watch Chinese movies so it was really a treat to get to hear the Sichuan accent/dialect and catch a glimpse of life there.
As an ABC, this movie was everything to me. It gave me a peek into a life I would never live, but also made me reflect on the life I DO live.
10/10 on everything. Acting, music, story, production. This one gets all the stars.
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The grey areas, handled with care
“What are you more afraid of? More than people harming your body?”“Afraid of the end of everything. Afraid of losing the future. Afraid of losing the present. Afraid of losing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Afraid of confronting.”
The story started simply with the police receiving a report of a rape case happening between a CEO of multinational company and his subordinate. The CEO suavely said it’s mutual relationship, while the lady just seemed shock and unable to affirm anything.
What’s interesting is the approach and direction the Imperfect Victim took to unravel this case through the perspective of Lin Kan, who is the defence lawyer of the CEO, Mr. Cheng. It took a very very long time to figure Lin Kan’s true stance. On one hand, we know she will competently, and perhaps, flawlessly defend her client’s case as a professional lawyer. On the other hand, we remain unsure and intrigued on her next steps as it seems like she empathised, more than any other, with Zhao Xun as a woman herself. I appreciated the dynamics between Lin Kan and Zhao Xun. The kind words and silent understanding that Lin Kan offered when dealing with Zhao Xun. It might be too idealistic, I loved how the former was able to do it in ways that protected both her professional integrity and the latter, despite being the opposing parties.
What really caught my surprise was that I enjoyed how the show patiently and tactfully showed the psychological journey of Zhao Xun go through, as the imperfect victim in this case, from silence to speaking out, from self shaming to facing it, from stepping up to doubting to giving up to accepting herself.
It also tactfully showed the discussions from multiple parties - at the police level on how they deal with cases like this, the honest view of how both genders would interpret the situations, the relationship dynamics between the CEO with his wife and mistress, as well as the impact of seemingly harmless comments by the public and coworkers.
I am not one that seek for dramas that deals with such heavy social topics, but Imperfect Victim did perfectly capture the dilemma that many modern women face in the workplace - on compromise, on tolerance, on numbing, on consent, on support and on asserting.
The visual storytelling, camera angles, story directing and actors / actresses are done well. I can’t imagine how this story will turn with a less capable production team and cast.
This is not a show for everybody, but it is made with everybody in mind, including the men despite being a women-centric show. For a show that deals with such complex social issue - sexual harassment and perceived consent - it somehow manage to bring out the multi perspectives and interpretations tactfully and carefully.
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A town somewhere in China, Chen Jing, sophomore Chinese Music at Zhongxia Academy of Music's Afiliative High School, sees the handsome classical music student Wang Wen practicing on the piano and immediately falls in love with him ... The film goes far beyond the novel, it teaches about Chinese music and proper classical music in a rather energetic, rather entertaining, but fun, youthful comedy driven by an animated performance by TV actress Xu Lu.
The film sustains its energy from a mass of small details and quirky ideas, beginning with the two music departments being so hostile to each other that they are separated by an iron gate in the same building. An innovative film full of energy and innovative ideas that is worth watching.
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Most Underrated Series! It deserves more love and appreciation!
This is the series I have been waiting for nearly 1 and half years and it finally dropped without any announcement so understand how surprised I was when the episode 1 aired!Plot- This series takes place in Chinese Republic Era when Opium was really a big issue in China. This story is about a police man whose life turned upside down when his father become opium addicted. Losing his father to the drugs and his mother to cruelty his father made her go through to buy drugs initiated her to "take her own life" Jiang Yue Lou's life was very difficult until he was adopted by Commissioner Bai thus pursuing the career of police to free Jingcheng from drugs. Then we have Chen Yu Zhi a benevolent doctor whose only purpose is to save people regardless of their background. This is a story of a determined yet unstable violent cop and a kind doctor coming together to bring peace to their town that has become victim to the drugs along the way they healed and redeemed each other.
Characters- Jiang Yue Lou seeing his happy family shattering to pieces in front of his eyes due to opium made him hate anyone who is link to the smuggling of the drug. At the very early age he had become the prominent figure in the Police Bruere however he is very arrogant, emotionally unstable, violent and cold in nature. He is intelligent, and righteous but when he loses his temper (very easily I may add) and does things without even caring for the consequences . He is even ready to sacrifice his own life if it means opium smuggling will come to an end. He is very determined and very hard to get along with, only handful people are close to him but even those don't know many pains that Jiang Yue Lou hides to himself due to Jiang Yue Lou having trust issues.
Chen Yu Zhi is completely opposite of Jiang Yue Lou. He is calm and collected, in control of his emotions and very kind and always try to help anyone he can. To him the world is not black and white rather there are lots of shades of grey even then Chen Yu Zhi is willing to help others. Through out the series we see how clever and deep understanding he has of people. He is not naïve, he knows he is living in a Era where China is going through very rough time economically and politically. He is aware that many people had no options but to opt to illegal ways to make a living. He knows the world is cruel to people especially to the poor that is why he tries to be kind to the people even though some may take advantage of his kindness. Through out the series we see how forgiving he is to the people even to those who deeply hurt him.
The relationship between our main leads started in a misunderstanding but slowly it turned into something beautiful and healthy relationship. They trust each other, confines in each others about the pain and secrets that no one one knows. For Jiang Yue Lou Chen Yu Zhi is the lucky star and a blessing. We see that it doesn't take much time for our cop to become smitten with our doctor. From episode 1 we get to see Chen Yu Zhi has a different effect on him. Through out the series we see how slowly Chen Yu Zhi helps Jiang Yue Lou with his bipolar disorder and helps him to learn how to trust others, how to care for others and that loving someone caring for someone is not weakness, showing your true emotions is not a weakness , showed him that the world is not black and white, that it's okay to let go of his anger and his tragic past for a better and peaceful life. Slowly Chen Yu Zhi healed our angry and lonely cop. To a certain degree it felt like Chen Yu Zhi's fate was to heal Jiang Yue Lou. His life mission. The ending at least gave me that impression.
Chu Ran the best Female lead!! I loved how clever and independent she was considering the Era she was in. Despite being in one sided love with Jiang Yue Lou not even once she acted selfishly or did anything bitchy that we usually see in bls often. Rather she was being helpful and respectful to our main leads. She was such a brave woman!!!
The Pros- The acting especially Mao Zi Jun. He is Outstanding actor and its pains me that he is so underrated! A true crime! He had done a phenomenal job portraying such a complex 3 dimensional character. You can see with different character he had different chemistry and his different acting in different scenes. He deserves recognition. Ian was 21 when he filmed this series he very young and it kind of showed. His acting was good but he needs more training and experience. Still his acting in some of the scenes were very good.
The cinematography was so beautiful my god! This show is aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. The prop team did an excellent job.
The music!! All the songs are good !
Dubbing was perfect and accurate!
No bitchy female lead trying break up or interfere between the boys! Chu Ran is the best female lead I have seen in a while in C-dramas
The Cons- MGTV and their ridiculous editing! I understand why some scene got deleted but the rest *sigh* The thing with MGTV is that they pick up projects that they can't do justice to!
The inconsistency in the script writing. There are some scenes that really doesn't make sense. Tbh I don't know who to blame because I have listened to audio drama and in that version the inconsistence is basically gone and is more detailed than the drama version. So is it editing fault or what I don't know!
Also I hated how they portrayed Bipolar disorder. I may not have enough knowledge on bipolar but I know for sure the writer has zero idea how a bipolar disorder person functions what struggles they go through and what occurrence makes them have a episode. Seriously I wish especially Asian script writer does their homework before portraying any kind mental illness.
The director! He is not an competent person that's all I will say.
Honestly people watch this series! It's delight to see how Chen Yu Zhi and Jiang Yue Lou slowly falls in love each other! Two different people with completely different characteristic and personality and ideals falls in love! I know some people see this a bromance and I respect that but for me it's clear that these two are in love with each other romantically! The plot is nothing new but the acting and the chemistry between actors is superb! I have deeply fallen in love with this wonderful series! This series really shows how bad some humans can become and for some there is no redemption! Just give it a shot guys!
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1This review may contain spoilers
everyone has their own backstory.
i enjoyed this series! i happen so to randomly come over this series but oh man, i do not regret it. this show is severely underrated btw!this show has its comedy side, touching side and each main character has their own tragic backstory that will be revealed slowly. everyone might be slow, dumb yet goofy but their backstory really breaks my heart. the build up with the backstory is amazing, the way they have healed but the wound opened up again to get the actual closure needed. my top few eps are 14, 16, 18 and 22. if you watch the scene, you would understand why i really enjoyed these episodes.
they are fated that they all met at by jumping of the cliff and naming themselves by the wording 3, 4 and 5 inside in. it was so funny! they are "found family" as they found comfort within each other while facing their struggles, while understanding each other without saying much, while supporting each other and stay with each other no matter what.
i enjoy the friendship between all the characters and if you are wondering if there is any romance... it is like lowkey and not that obvious. you get to enjoy many different cp types of feels. if you are wondering how i am shipping, its 3+5 and 4+ji. i am waiting for the next season as the ending wrote, "the first season ended"
however, mango's subbing is bullshit because as a chinese, i saw the chinese wordings and the english subs, i am closed to vomit blood. it is so so badly subbed. so for those who does not understand, you might need to wait for better subs. like they subbed 你相信我吗? - it was supposed to be "do you believe me?" but they subbed to "do you miss me?" ...??!!
as for the acting, i think they did a good job! the main characters ranges from '97 to '02 and their acting is good! what i love is that their are a lot of dramatic and big expression type of scenes but they are able to not overact and overdo it. with the right amount that you won't think that it is too over the top and get annoyed about it.
it might seem boring at first but as it goes on, it will get better. trust me. anyways, please give this show a chance! thank you~
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One of the few Chinese dramas that I can binge watch and that's saying something -- story is really GOOD! Park Solomon has proven his status as a highly skilled actor - In this drama, he portrayed so many different roles and characters - not only were they impressive, but very believable and passionate. Started this drama because of Park Solomon, I was not disappointed. This drama also had great pacing and a memorable OST (ending).
- STORY -
Story was inspired by the webtoon Lookism. I decided to give it a read after getting into this drama and there were major differences. Despite lots have complained about this drama not following the webtoons, I consider this drama adaption very well done, even better than the webtoons in some aspects. The overall plot is really good but I do have to point out some scenes were kind of off-logic and unbelievable. However, these can be overlooked for the direction of where the plot is trying to go.
- ACTING -
I'm thoroughly impressed by the acting in this series. In fact the best I've seen for a high school youth drama. Park Solomon's duality really shows here with him looking like a sad pathetic puppy to an incredibly confident character. He learned Chinese just for this drama. However, overall the whole supporting casts were very talented as well. As much as I didn't like the chubby WenShuai, his character is made to be pathetic and it was effective.
- MUSIC -
I'm not really picky with OSTs but this drama had good sound design during most scenes and some of the OST was really good and fits with the drama really well. Lookism, the ending OST really really sets the mood for the later half of this drama.
- REWATCH -
Rewatching value is subjective. I really don't rewatch much, but for this drama, I might rewatch a few scenes.
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In story department, it was rather realistic and not off-putting by any means, I actually cared about every character in this story and not that much about the main relationship, because it was more of a background to everything that was going on in the story.
The cast is interesting, there's a lot of chemistry going on between Song Ji Hyo and Choi Jin Hye, and their scenes were quite funny, especially at the beginning of the drama. I think the character I was most concerned about was Kook Cheon Soo, because he seemed a lot like an average person lost in a giant white world and in himself at the same time; simply an individual who can't connect himself with others - more of a good book character that you grow fond of after awhile, rather than an actual drama character. I also loved Shim Ji Hye's character, she depicts a role model to look up to, and Lee Sung Min was classy as well.
There's a few songs from what I recall, and the usual dramatic tones of ER are there, so I have no complaints about it...but oh, Choi Jin Hyuk can sing quite well? It was an interesting input to a certain episode.
There's a solid rewatch value to this drama, maybe not for these 2-3 episodes that I found quite redundant and filler-like, but the entirety gives much to see even second time around.
Now, for the roundup, I'll admit I watched this in two days, and I think that tells a lot about just how indulging and interesting this drama turned out to be. I'm not usually hyped over hospital dramas or couples been-there-and-back, but the final overall of the drama made it so much more than a rekindled romance with a hospital as its back setting. I'm sure all other reviewers have noticed that as well, seeing as there's much of positive feedback this drama has received. There is, simply, so many aspects of life contained here to relate to.
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