This review may contain spoilers
I’m Your Sky & You’re My Sea.
Game recognises game, and my man LEE, has GAME! The boy had 6mins, 41secs (yes I counted) and some nonsense line about the moon and walking or something and he worked!! Effortlessly. *Standing ovation* the real MVP. Also, that scene in ep8 almost gave me a heart-attack. I was screaming, ‘Noooo P’Fah do not put our cute fluffy boo-boo’s hand there!’ LMAO, for a second I think we all forgot this show was from Domundi and they real thirsty over there.Listen, real talk, what’s in the water over at Domundi? Beauty juice, anyone? Do their dramas make me cringe, yes, do I keep rewatching? hell yes! One thing I’ll give them though, their dramas may be cringy but their face cards would never decline. In the first episode I was like, ‘are these models or actors?’ where the normal ugly looking humans at? where my people who roll up to school like we got ran over by a truck on the way?
Anyway, here’s my quick review checklist:
#1. Episode 1 had me rolling my eyes, judging. I literally said to myself. ‘Oh great, another childish show with nonsense plot. Literally what’s with all that cringe over a damn shirt? Give it a rest already.’ But by episode 3 my arse was going ‘ahhhhh why are they so cuteeeeeeeeeee. Sunday, where the eff you at? Come early!’
#2. The creepy vibes from Oh was so strong, like damn dude did you take extra courses for this or what? Thank God he disappeared halfway through the series and we all just forgot about him. He’s probably out there following that one dude who showed him kindness and still being creepy. #savethatonedude.
#3. Hia had me rolling my eyes after Real confessed his feelings. This child gave me a headache. Dude, you’ve been touchy touchy with your best friend and initiating stuff since episode 1, and now you wanna play Mary the virgin? Then of course, he’d make out with Real, and still say he’s not sure about his feelings. If only I could reach into the screen and slap him with a rubber chicken. No, every time he opens his mouth to lie about his feelings I go, ‘my brother, my brother, my brother, let us have peace. Go sit somewhere with your nonsense.’ Ain't no way his arse was still confused after that third kiss. Heck they should have married after that second kiss.
#4. Not gonna lie, I was bored the first few episodes, almost dropped this. And that one cringy scene where Rak shouted Fah’s name during that football game. Ahhhhh, I wanted to find some nice earth, dig a deep hole and just, lie inside. The secondhand embarrassment I felt...yikes. Man was out there having his High School Musical moment, and I wanted to disappear on his behalf.
#5. Also what the hell is up with Rak, a uni student acting like a child? Was he cute, sure, but what grown up acts like that? Bls needs to stop letting grown ups act so childish, it’s really unbecoming and nonsense.
#6. PUNLEE IS THE MAN: There was no nonsense on his part. He sees it, he likes it, he wants it, he gets it. I wish he’d have taught Hia a thing or fifteen, dude was wasting screen time with his nonsense.
#7. I did not care for the stupid misunderstandings from both the main and second leads. Especially that whole sequence with the confession at the airport. Boy you did not even wait to hear an answer and ran away to sulk at some abandon parking lot. Like??? Let us to be serious in this life people.
#8. The shock I got when Fah took Rak’s hand and led it south. I was like. ’NOOOOOO, not the baby, he’s not ready. He’s too innocent, please don’t do that! Stop it!’ Loved that he saw he wasn’t ready and stopped. The breath I let out. Fast forward to ep12, and I am singing 'The innocence is goneeeee.' Like, what angle was that even?
#9. Though, FAH did not waste 1 single second the moment Rak said he was ready. LMAO, my man was hungry!!! Rak grew up too fast. Tears. But it was done really sweet and beautiful, and it turned out Rak was not as innocent as I assumed.
#10. Episode 11 was so emotional. I went through anger, tears, understanding, then happiness for the two. We need to retire this whole episode 11 curse. For the love of all things bl, please, stop breaking our hearts!
#11. I repeat, PUNLEE IS THE MAN: For that one cafe scene alone, he’s officially my fav bl character of 2025.
12. FINALE: Everyone got their happy ending, so smiles all around for our couples. Liked how Rak's father apologised to Fah, and how mature Fah was about everything. Like how Rak sister has been supportive of him throughout this drama as well. That scene with Rak and Fah was... yeah innocence don't live here no more. Lee still the man! Hia and Real, about effing time.
#13. That theme song always had me doing a happy dance.
All in all. I enjoyed the stories of all the couples, they were entertaining even with the cliches and unnecessary misunderstanding. The plot wasn’t anything new or special, it’s been done in other bls. Fake dating turns real. The cast being new was noticeable, cuz the acting was nothing to write home about, so there’s a lot of room for improvement, but they still managed to hold my attention and kept me entertained so it was not time wasted. I will recommend this to anyone looking for a new bl to watche, especially Domundi lovers. It’s cute and fluffy and serious in some parts. I look forward to more from the cast.
Anywho, see you all for the next Domundi drama, my arse will tune in for anything Domundi.
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This review may contain spoilers
Some cute moments but annoying teenager, superficial and inconsistent characters and a plain story.
Had this show started when FL was already in university it would have a bit of a higher rating on my part, I found from that point onwards it was more entertaining, not great by any means, but better. From the beginning up to that point I almost quit several times solely on the fact that the FL was EXTREMELY annoying.I'm not familiar with the actors in this show nor I generally care who is in what. There are actors I like, but I won't watch something only based on that. I say this because I don't know if the acting of Zhao Lu Si is her or it's the director and direction that pushed her to do that (and in that case not sure why they would be happy with that result). It was extremely annoying how she was acting as a 17 year old like she was 7. She was shown as more mature at age 14 in her way of speaking and mannerisms (although physically that actress was clearly younger so it was also very jarring).
I think at this point after two cdramas watched being set in high school I should avoid cdramas set in high school. It feels at times like I'm watching a video on morality and good manners directed at high schoolers, like the civil education videos I had to watch when I was around 12-14 years old. It's also so forced how they try at some point or another say some grandiose moral quote like they're talking to me directly instead of the character.
Also, for the love of all things dear, how was she so dumb and childish when technically she had good grades in school? It makes no sense at all.
They want to show later in university that she's more of a grown up but there are so many things in her way of doing and especially her voice that she still seems so childish. On the other hand ML changes completely of character once he's starting to be interested in her, he's all of a sudden super cocky and flirty, it was very out of character. From that point onwards it's like they're trying to keep reminding me that she's a girly girl and he's a boyish boy.... MEH.
I still don't understand fully how or when Jiaxu started having feelings for her, it's kind of sudden.
I didn't care they didn't show much of the drama involving his father because I had zero interest really, it seemed kind of typical and like it was not going to add much to the story other than some cliché trauma, but I didn't understand either why introducing that daughter of the family affected, she was very annoying and contributed nothing to the story either. I'm guessing she was only there so FL could show her more "mature" side but it's very weak.
There are some cute moments, but overall I was not so sure of why they liked each other, I'm not even sure why she liked him in the beginning to be honest, just because he was handsome and nice to her? not sure, I'm not shown at any point in the first or second half that they share anything when it comes to personality or likes or hobbies, they barely share even that many special moments. It's also very weird because he goes from calling her "sister" to 5 minutes later being interested in her, I couldn't shake that feeling of uneasiness, and it brings me to the fact that the sister thing was way overdone. It would have been so much better had he just been the brother's friend and kept that relationship of friend than making it so far as to his feeling of her as a sister, I felt that put a big barrier on there that I couldn't see a way of it being broken and so I was not surprised when it was just done suddenly and didn't work for me at all. It's also quite annoying when she's already in uni and she keeps saying he's old and they keep mentioning the 5 year gap, what is not a big one by any means.
As it happens in the other cdrama I watched recently (When I Fly Towards You), everything is shown in perfect stages, high school is the time for little crushes but ultimately focusing solely in studies, university ok for relationships, and as soon as you finish uni then get a great job straight away and save to quickly buy a house and start a family. It's very unrealistic, and after this being the second one with the same idea I'm starting to think that they're trying to precisely sell me an idea here more than a story. It was equally unrealistic his career, how he's able to achieve all that at his age, no problems in anything, same with her really, nothing of much importance. It's also the fact they feel the need to include in the story the whole process instead of only one part of it, it gives it even more that feeling of someone showing "how it's done" to me so I take it as an example.
Characters are also generally always kept superficially and secondary ones are pretty non existant.
I found the brother quite annoying at times as well, why was he ten times more patriarchal than the father? I know maybe he just has the older brother complex but seems so weird when it doesn't seem they have that dynamic in the family. Her parents were all right but I didn't really understand why they let the son be that way with her or take more charge of her than them, it was weird some times.
The ending is... well... the cherry on top I suppose. It was quite shocking she would be proposed on the same day of her graduation, like chill man!! Another cdrama that pushes the marry young idea, but I mean, considering they got everything else at unrealistic young ages no wonder by 22-23 they're bored of their lives and they need to marry or something 😂 (I know he's older but still applies, it's not like he had to do it like he has an expiration date and as far as we know he was not being pushed to do it by anyone either).
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But even though it has some major flaws, I kind of like it, I would be lying if I told you otherwise. So here’s some reasons why it isn’t an amazing movie, but why it’s still worth the watch.
The first half of the movie feels a bit flat in my opinion. The main character is put through these trials that are somewhat repetitive and don’t really engage you since he feels like a stranger, empty and lacking a clear personality. A problem that persists throughout the whole movie. It’s hard to care about the outcome of the judgments when you can’t really connect with the characters.
Another thing that is off putting with the trials, is the fact that they never get exciting or serious. You never feel nervous for the outcome because of how predictable and silly they are. I still, as I wrote previously, love the concept though.
In the second half of the movie you get to know all the characters a little better, better but not well enough to make them feel like 3-dimensional, full characters. Even though it’s still very predictable, you want to see how the story unfolds and if you are a crier like me, you might even cry a little. I must say though, that the comedy and the tragedy in this movie isn’t that great. They play on your emotions in the most typical ways and often fail.
What I really like about the movie is the CGI. Almost every setting and fight was nicely done, something that is rare for these kinds of movies. The great surroundings truly make the movie come alive.
So all in all, I think that they could’ve made the movie a lot better and way more interesting if they wanted to, but at the same time it is an enjoyable movie and totally worth the watch. At least if you are into things like the afterlife, reincarnation, angels and Gods. I know I am, but are you?
Just because a movie isn’t amazing or flawless, doesn’t mean it’s not worth the ride, so don’t let all the not-so-great stuff prevent you from watching this nice movie.
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This review may contain spoilers
The Best Sapphic Themed Romance in a Long Time
You were my dream, my longing and my one and only Prince!”If someone had told me that a supporting character would rise to be the main lead’s love interest, I wouldn’t have believed them. That was until I watched “Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born” and was left mesmerized by the romance between Jeongnyeon and Jooran. A classic retelling of the webtoon “Jeong Nyeon” (정년이) written by Seo Irae (서이레) and illustrated by Namon (나몬). If you are worried that the show is a censored adaptation, so it won’t have the same romantic connotations as the original, fret not. “Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born” encompasses a spell binding romance in the midst of encapsulating the Korean art forms, Pansori & Gukgeuk. For those unaware, there is a difference between both. Pansori is a Korean genre of musical storytelling performed by a singer and a drummer, where the singer tells the story by singing and the drummer accompanies her on the drum. Gukgeuk refers to a theatrical performance that combines both singing and dancing. The show embodies the very essence of both art forms that were quite popular in the post-war era. Being an all women production, even the male roles were portrayed by females. We are going to talk about the different facets of this show that strongly betray its homoerotic context!
Read the complete article here-
https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/11/19/jeongnyeon-the-star-is-born-series-review-ep-1-to-12/
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A MISSED OPPORTUNITY
*Bogotá: City of the Lost* is a crime drama starring Song Joong-ki, but despite an interesting story, it doesn’t fully deliver. The film follows Kook-hee, a young Korean man who moves to Bogotá and gets involved in the city’s black market. It promises action and suspense but feels slow at times, with too much talking and not enough excitement.One good thing about the movie is its setting - Bogotá looks gritty and realistic, making you feel like you’re really there. Song Joong-ki does a great job acting, but the story doesn’t give enough attention to other characters, making them feel unimportant. The action scenes are also not very thrilling, which is disappointing for a crime movie.
Overall, the movie has some good moments, but it doesn’t live up to expectations. If you’re a big fan of Song Joong-ki, you might enjoy it, but if you’re looking for an intense crime thriller, this one might not be for you.
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Sae Bom & Yi Hyun's fight for Happiness
or should I say — "watching them together is our Happiness"This drama brings out many versions of humans. It shows how layered this society is… I met a mix variety of people here, those who will help others selflessly, those who may save themselves first selfishly, those who think money is God & everything can be bought even in case of emergency… There are those few confused characters too who are in a great dilemma that if they should help or not…
The drama also depicts that Class discrimination between people from upper & lower class can survive even in such chaos… so the more I started to love the leads, the more HATE I had in my mind for those extra mean characters… by hate I mean I wanted them to just die... If you want to watch this, you need enough patience for annoying side characters.
Han Hyo Joo (as ~ Yoon Sae Bom) is an anti-terrorism trainer & someone who is selfless & fearless. She is kinda reckless at times but she is straightforward. I loved the way she kicks, I was like "Oh my God, that was so smooth!" Definitely a very good Strong female lead. But she doesn't falls under the category of Smart female leads for me cause her decisions were all hasty, without consideration.
Park Hyung Sik (as ~ Jung Yi Hyun) is a detective & a former baseball player who has courage and knows when to use his cop & sportsman skills. He is righteous & strong. PHS has definitely got good action skills. That car slide scene is something I saw repeatedly again and again. He is good at no matter what role he plays. Happiness as Hyung Sik's comeback drama is perfect.
The chemistry of the leads is like so pure. They understand & support each other. They are like one team. No forced romantic moments considering a total action-thriller drama. So, No exaggeration of romance. Just a simple couple who pretended to be a couple but actually love each other a lot deep in heart. Their bond is just precious. I wish these two get more chances of cooperation cause look at them, they look so good together…!! And I'll stop fangirling now haha.
Jo Woo Jim (as ~ Han Tae Seok) is a military informant who wants to help everyone. He plays the hard cold guy role in front of everyone but is actually very caring at heart. There has to be someone who takes the tough decisions & be bad, he chose himself for that. There's one scene when I just screamed that "Oh God, HE IS SO COOL"…… well, there's PHS Oppa in this drama so shouldn't I just cheer up for him more but No, Character-wise, I loved Han Tae Seok more…
Keeping us hooked up… This isn't draggy at all… just a simple zombie drama that goes "little" in-depth with the characters but from the enjoyment point of view, I was personally enjoying watching it. It wasn't very scary in terms of visuals but it did make me nervous about what is going to happen next.
I think I am gonna miss the rooftop of this drama, I just feel very attached to it, I wonder what's so special about that place… then, my only complain here was that I wish they gave more background story for the characters first so that we can connect to them…
Overall, I loved this drama and just that it's thriller and I basically know all the facts now, so I won't rewatch this but what a nice ride this was… Give it a try if it suits your drama taste…
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Long-Awaited Seduction Into A DARK CONCEPT !!
Exceeding Expectations. And Then Again Disappointing. It´s wild.This painstakingly created series is expected to be one of the most controversial, hardest and longest emotional rollercoasters in 2022 and it has also been highly awaited by the entire LGBTQI+ film community.
However, if you easily feel offended by toxic tropes then I recommend you reconsider watching this series !!
Production / Music >> 9.5 >> 9.0 >> 8.5
As already seen in the first trailer – deleted by now – KinnPorsche has always been visually incomparable to other series. Even with their delay in airing and producing, the fandom has been faithfully waiting for this visual masterpiece to finally air. Given the second trailer and after watching the first episode, I know that KinnPorsche will lift the visual standards of LGBTQI+ shows to another level. Additionally, for those who don´t know me, I am a sucker for dark concepts and for what has been displayed so far with the lighting and colouring, my eyes are blessed and my creativity is exploding.
Combined with the series' soundtracks – e.g.: Slot Machine´s “Free Fall” – this entire show seems so unreal in quality, especially since it has a heavier and more challenging plot and concept than most LGBTQI+ series in the past. Therefore, I think they can still fail in the execution of a good story, but they have lifted the standards for the cinematography and consequently, I´ll predict this to blow up and get at least an 8.0 rating on MDL - excluded any crucial errors such as misrepresentation of fundamental issues, e.g.: LGBTQI+, toxic relationships, abuse, etc. I, however, doubt they will fail in the portrayal of those.
Let´s especially praise the Cinematographer (Maneerat Srinakarin) and the Screenwriter (Pond Kritsada Wittayakachondej), for perceiving the possibilities of this concept's aesthetics and implementing them successfully, as well as the Editors and Production in general.
Plot / Story >> 7.5 >> 8.5 >> 9.0 >> 8.0 >> 7.5
So far, I´ve been satisfied with the introduction to this series and its concept. However, even though the plot is exciting and thrilling, "it is not that innovative yet and therefore I need more episodes to change my mind and give it an 8 or higher". At some points, it was just so random, and the entire mafia thing got a bit laughable.
BUT Then I continued watching and changed my mind A BIT. Despite the aspect of some lack in the stories innovation, I am a total sucker for these sorts of concepts, and in the past, I´d just blindly give it a 10 BUT I´m trying to not let my excitement take over my rationality. However, if my rating was based on my own excitement, this rating would surely have a different outcome.
Cast >> 9.5 >> 10.0 >> 9.0
The entire training the actors have been going under in 2021 has finally paid off and the series successfully cast very talented individuals for each role. Especially Apo has been well chosen as Porsche, his personality finds shelter and rises like “The Phoenix”. Mile takes our breath as toxic-tinged Mr Kinn, who exudes a bold and decisive charm like Mile himself. The result is well-cast Main roles.
However, I will not forget to give the supporting cast all the praise. It´s just that I could write so many paragraphs about them - trust me I did that - but I´m trying to keep it short. Honestly, Bible did not only put effort into acting out Vegas but he also committed a lot to the KinnPorsche Story by translating Daemi´s book. I´m happy to see that the involved people also enjoy being part of this huge project. Love it!
Rewatch Value >> 9.0 >> 9.5 >> 9.0 >> 8.0
So far so good. Since this sort of concept is always extremely pulling me in and my disappointment in “Golden Blood” is heavily weighing down on me, I am quite sure this will be one of the shows I will come back to at least twice, if not more often. Therefore, my overall rating so far is a solid and well-deserved 8.5 and had chances to be a 9.0 if they had increased the story's uniqueness and matched it to their incomparable cinematography/ visuals.
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This review may contain spoilers
Final review : Sadly it crashed towards the end
When I started this drama, I really enjoyed it and looked forward to each episode every day. But from ep 25 onwards, I became impatient to know who Yesha was, so I started getting a little bored. The final six episodes were disappointing, though still somewhat acceptable to me.Towards the end—especially in the last six episodes, the drama seemed to throw in every leftover plot points randomly and illogically just to wrap things up. The twists felt confusing instead of shocking, and they were rushed, leaving the audience no time to process anything.
For example, at the start of ep 31, they suddenly decided to kill off Tong Shuang—not even five minutes in and then immediately jumped to the mourning scenes. Right after that, the remaining four sat together, and out of nowhere Xiao Beiming announced that he had discovered the identity of the Yesha who committed the murder back then (Miao Yue at Fengbo Lake), and that there was actually a second Yesha. He then rattled off the how, why, and what, ending with the conclusion that the second Yesha might be Miao Yun, Miao Yue’s adopted Haiya orphan. The whole thing felt anticlimactic, and the “build-up” to Xiao Beiming realizing Tong Shuang was Yesha was unconvincing. Like, what do you mean he just needed some alone time in a cell, squeezing every last brain cell, to magically connect all the dots?
And then there’s my favorite bit of absurdity: Zhong Xueman recognizing Miao Yun from a portrait drawn by Zhuge Tong and saying he “seemed familiar.” Plot twist: she’d seen him ONCE, three years ago, and they locked eyes for less than a minute. Girl. Be serious. If you can pull a three-year-old, one-minute memory out of thin air, you need to be studied by science. I can’t even remember who I bumped into yesterday.
The reveal that Tong Shuang was Bei Kun and wanted revenge also fell flat. He just failed and died? I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that. I didn’t expect fireworks, but I did expect something more than “welp, guess that’s over.” Also, maybe it’s just me but I noticed that as they uncovered more about Yesha, the camera sometimes focused more on Tong Shuang, even when he wasn’t the main subject of the scene. At first, I found it odd, but now I think it might have been a deliberate hint or it's just me overthinking.
As for the ending, it was exactly what everyone expected: the leads’ second marriage ceremony. Predictable, sure, but after all they’d been through, it made sense. Still, I’m sorry but they just didn’t have chemistry or sparks as a couple. Maybe it’s because the story didn’t focus on romance, so their emotional connection never developed in a believable way.
On the acting side, Wang Xing Yue did well overall, especially in emotional scenes. Xiang Hanzhi did her best, and while I get why some people complain about her, I think it’s also because the character was written in a way that made her hard to love. Personally, I didn’t have a big problem with her acting, but she didn’t wow me either. Most of the side characters were fine, but when it came to He Luoluo as Yesha, I found him a bit underwhelming. He lacked the aura of a true villain, and it took me a while to take him seriously because the image of bright, adorable Tong Shuang was still too strong in my mind.
In the end, I enjoyed the character bonds and the way they stuck together through thick and thin. The first half of the drama was solid and right up my alley. But as it went on, it kept testing my intelligence with increasingly ridiculous twists until I couldn’t ignore the nonsense anymore. Final verdict: not the best, not the worst but definitely the kind of ride where you start off cheering and end up sighing.
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Too much talk and not enough plot.
I expected "Doom at Your Service" to easily become a new drama favorite of mine. It starsSeo In Guk as an attractive and mysterious male lead, which is his specialty and almost a guarantee that I'll get hooked, but his storyline is hijacked by a mediocre love triangle/fractured bromance that made me lose any interest I had. Instead of getting a fully fleshed-out-fantasy- romance about Doom itself going against character and falling in love with a depressed woman, I got a boring office drama about writers and editors with way too much dialogue and not enough plot. This is also meant to be a tear-jerker yet my eyes remained dry the entire time. This drama went from addictive to barely watchable fast. I almost dropped it in the last episodes because it dragged so much. Maybe a more dynamic female lead could have kept me interested longer. Even though Park Bo Young may be cute, and even likable, she annoyed me as the Tak Dong Kyung.
Dong Kyung as a character starts off amazing. She does the unexpected, she appears brave and considerate and clever, but as the story loses direction so does the character. There were too many Park Bo Young scenes with her crying/whining before I had a chance to fully connect with the character's situation. I also felt declining chemistry between her and Seo In Guk as Doom/Sa Ram. What started with an interesting connection turned into long conversations and repetitive fantasy sequences but not a love story I could connect with. I'm just gonna say it, Seo In Guk is much better at passionate scenes and showing depth (like in "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes"), and he tried to carry many of their scenes with subtle choices I loved, but having Park Bo Young play so innocent, almost childish, missed the mark for me. She also seemed too indifferent about literally dying for too long. The denial in the beginning aside, which worked well, as episodes evolved I just didn't believe she was a woman making life or death choices which stopped me from caring enough to cry or just fall in love with the story. I can't say she was bad in the role, she just wasn't good enough to make me buy into this unusual plot. Big Park Bo Young fans may feel differently and be more forgiving, which would make a huge difference in whether you like this drama or not. She is in 2 unique concept dramas that I loved "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon" and "Oh My Ghostess", where being cute worked much better, but not this time. I was unimpressed.
The next problematic character for me is Jeong Ji So as "God". I didn't mind the whole Dora The Explorer Diety Gardner thing, or her performance, but her esoteric unclear presence in the story was more frustrating than interesting. Mainly, again, because she talked too much and showed too little (besides random plants). Maybe some things were lost in translation, but her long conversations and observations may be good in a novel, or a webtoon, but on screen, it just drags and bored me almost to sleep at times. I'm wondering if the dialogue sounds so "beautiful" in Korean that the writer fell too in love with their own words to cut any of it down and remember that showing is more compelling than telling on screen. Yes, there were a few well-done visual scenes but they were still mostly overwhelmed by talking. Too many scenes of the leads just staring at each other in bed (together and apart) was a huge romantic disappointment too. They were damn near platonic for such an epic fated love story, with too much narration. It lacked enough passion to sustain the story to the end and by the time things resolved I barely cared.
Oh, and about that extra love triangle, usually even a cliché love triangle has exciting scenes and chemistry but nope... these 3 characters also just have lots of conversations about the past, about each other, about what they may want to do or should have done, with very little actual progress. I think Lee Soo Hyuk as blunt and straight-faced Cha Joo Ik was supposed to be funny, but I found those banter scenes to be flat. I'm sure much of that intended dry humor was lost on me as well. For me, just having two attractive men isn't enough to fuel a love triangle romance plot. It also has nothing to do with the Doom plot, which makes it seem like unnecessary filler or a different drama.
I did like her brother's character, mainly for cute comic relief, but most of the other characters are just ok, and pretty forgettable (Shout out to poor Kevin who didn't even make the cast list lol).
Would I watch this again? I wouldn't torture myself like that. I'm sure a lot of these actors will go on to better dramas that I'll watch and I will probably forget this drama even exists after a while.
The OST is also forgettable but oh how I love Seo In Guk's voice. Rather, I just love him and his beautiful voice is a bonus. I didn't fall in love with any songs though... or his hair color.
Overall this drama is a huge miss. Maybe it's good if you want to hear more Korean dialogue than usual as language practice (it's A LOT y'all) but I can't call this drama good. It is an ambitious and pretty original idea but that's not enough to make this drama work as a whole. Characters saying how they feel instead of showing it for me felt like a romance buzz kill and lazy. If this drama had no Doom character I would have dropped it almost immediately. I also expected tears, since sadly cancer scenarios are too familiar in my real life, but my eyes remained dry the entire time. And what's worse than abusing flashbacks... describing flashbacks as you abuse and overuse them. I looked up the last drama written by this writer and it was "The Beauty Inside", another drama with all concept and zero plot. Another movie plot idea stretched beyond its means. Another missed opportunity to create a really interesting love story. Maybe I should have double-checked who the writer was before I decided not to drop this. Sadly, those who don't learn which drama writers create shows they should have dropped are doomed to repeat it.
I guess Seo In Guk was too good at his Doom role because he doomed me to complete this.
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1Missing parts.
Let me preface this review with a warning - this is a well-loved drama that I simply fail to appreciate. If my criticism of it will offend you or ruin the joy you found in it, best give this a skip.The soundbites are tantalizing: a taboo romance between a eunuch and a concubine; a ruthless and scheming male lead; a spirited and clever female lead; and palace conspiracies and mysteries aplenty. Not to mention Wang Hedi's Xiao Duo exudes that intense tall, dark, and dangerous kind of sex appeal that screams he is no Lord Varys. So I jumped in despite my reservations over Chen Yuqi's acting. As it turns out, that is one of the drama's lesser problems.
This drama is an inane attempt at dark satire aimed at the obscene privilege of emperors. It opens with the shockingly cruel practice of sending off childless concubines, known as tribute ladies to accompany the emperor in the afterlife. After high powered eunuch Xiao Duo rescues Bu Yinlou from this dastardly fate, an alliance of sorts forms between the two as they navigate treacherous palace politics in a time of power transition. I like how it was just a mutually beneficial relationship initially and how they disliked and were wary of each other; that the romance did not blossom instantly. Where it falters is in showing me why the two most powerful men in the palace connect with and fall so utterly for a woman afflicted by bizarre facial paroxysms.
Xiao Duo's wicked ruthlessness is gleefully conveyed with wit, panache, and flawless comedic timing by Wang Hedi. This is well matched by Peter Ho's slightly over-the-top portrayal of the deceptively simplistic, cartoonish-ly obsessive, and delusional emperor. Both portrayals convey each character's underlying ethos; a past sadness and secret loneliness. Unfortunately, Chen Yuqi’s jarring and tacky comedic interpretation is far more typical of a slapstick comedy than dark satire. Her exaggerated rapid eye movement and outlandish facial expressions had me triple-checking the synopsis to see if the character is supposed to be epileptic, schizophrenic, or simply possessed. While a huge upgrade from her usual vacuous sleepwalking, for the first 14 episodes, there is little beyond brazen tasteless humor in Chen Yuqi's Bu Yinlou. After that, she gets into character and delivers some really good scenes. She has good romantic chemistry with Wang Hedi that elevates her performance and the more serious tone the story takes also helps. But her acting is not consistent and wobbles again at the ending episodes. It highlights her limited range and is quite inexcusable for someone who is an acting school graduate with a long list of drama lead role credits. This is the best I have seen from her in years but that says nothing at all.
This drama's biggest issue is that it is missing a good plot. The storyline is contrived, naive and so ridiculous it is disdainful of audience intelligence. The writer's ignorance and superficial understanding of feudal imperial inner palace workings are embarrassing. It is impossible for someone like Bu Yinlou to waltz in and out of the inner palace like it is a hotel, live at a brothel and gallivant all over the kingdom with Xiao Duo. The production leaked "cut" romantic scenes like a sieve, trying to blame the abysmal failure in storytelling on censorship. The truth is all the kiss scenes in the world cannot salvage the messy plot and inconsistent characterizations. We are told both leads are smart characters but they are actually the architects of their own troubles. The allegedly Machiavelli Xiao Duo wrests the crown prince from the custody of the one person with the highest incentive to keep him alive and healthy and puts him in the hands of the person with the strongest incentive to kill him dead! As a couple, they have repeated opportunities to escape, but choose not to. Xiao Duo's revenge is anti-climatic and hastily swept under the rug once the killer is uncovered. They flaunt their affair with such reckless impunity they so deserved to get busted. I stopped caring if they ended up together and sat on the meh ending episode for weeks. I finally finished watching this so you don't have to. To my dismay, they got an ending they didn't earn or deserve.
The bottom line is Wang Hedi is the only reason to watch this drama. He is sexy even when he glowers and scowls and his costuming and visuals in this drama are swoon-worthy. In fact, save yourself some time and just watch all the fan-made videos of the romantic scenes hard-core fans have stitched together. You can skip all the rest because as foreshadowed by the eunuch theme, this drama has critical missing parts. I can only rate it 6.5/10.0 to finish at the rock bottom of my completed list for 2022.
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In spite of all the horror and struggle for survival, there is still room for the heart note
"All of Us Are Dead" isn't specific to South Korean culture, but it's not surprising that the story was born on South Korean soil... The story picks up on the sheer horror that South Korean youth are exposed to in the face of their brutal educational system. There, the enormous pressure to perform is higher than almost anywhere else in the world. For some, bullying is one way to reduce stress. The bullied, in turn, are doubly stressed. Other options include withdrawal, drugs, or suicide. South Korean society is largely blind and/or helpless in the face of this. The pressure to perform and, in this context, the psychological suffering of young people seems to be without alternative in view of the nationwide (and worldwide, economic) competition - a price that society has to pay in view of the greater good. And with that, the youngsters are left alone to somehow survive in this merciless world. However, this applies (perhaps not so blatantly) in a similar way to young people in many countries around the world.This is where "All of Us Are Dead" comes in its impressive and striking way.
The original title is something like "Currently at our school", so the focus is actually on the school and their students. In fact, the horror of everyday school life, which is more existential for some and less existential for others, mutates into a horror for everyone. A troubled father wants to create a way for his suicidal son to finally stand up to his bullies. The experiment goes astray. The vicious, zombie-like virus is sweeping the entire city and beyond. Disaster control, state of emergency, martial law - the whole program is needed to get the situation under control. And here, again, the young people are left alone in their existential need.
The story telling and expression of various group and relationship dynamics between the young people represent high-end KDrama quality - intense, powerful, sensitive, excellent. Almost everything is on the table. For me, this is the strength of this KDrama and the reason why worth watching.
Besides the problems, dynamics and approaches of trying to 'master' the threatening epidemic somehow sums up what we have had to go through worldwide in the past 2 years marked by Covid. When the rules are overridden, individuals (those who happen to have something to say) rule against the backdrop of their (helpless) personalities - arbitrary or scientifically based, rational or irrational, mostly driven by fear and from a safe distance and/or on the (argumentatively) safe side. Then real quick nobody takes side of individuals anymore, the big picture being more important...
Seen in this way, "All of Us Are Dead" is a qualitatively demanding KDrama in several respects. In spite of all the horror and struggle for survival, there is still room for the heart note.
However, I would like to emphasize that the virus is turning people into flesh-eating zombies. So the abundance of screaming, rattling, biting, blood-smeared zombie scenes, which simply lack any aesthetics for the eye and ear, is part of the story, too. In general this drama is brutal. This is obviously very popular in the international zeitgeist and thus (being published on the international netflix platform) stagily staged. I would say, brutal details and zombie-screentime could definitely have been less prevailing (in order to still tell the story).
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best of cdramas
this was a great cdrama, and before the buts I'll talk about the good points:1- the fl was the main hero, she woke up 1st and she "solved" most of the problems, though at points they did seem to always praise the ml (once the cop even praised him for remembering "something" but at that timeline the fl did all the work)
2- each passenger had their own lives, as the leads suspected them all, each one of them revealed their own struggles and hardships (I do think they glossed over them too fast, but in the end they were all "heroes" eventhough most time lines they didn't want to intervene)
3- the cat guy UWU
4- the different interpretations of how each action resulted in a different reaction (though they were a little too repetitive at times)
5- I'm glad the final showdown was done by the fl
now for the buts~
1- I think one pervert one time was not enough for her meltdown. if someone touches you, SCREAM right away. there were many people there, her story felt like a simple "backstory" on why 2 people wanted to blow up a bus..
2- going to prison for terrorism and mass murder attempt probably has a higher jail time than sexual harassment, which is sad cuz that dude deserved worse...
3- I thought this was like that ep of "Mystery to Iunakare" where the kidnappers took the bus with all the suspects of that event, though indeed it'd have been harder to track down the pervert which results in my "solution"
4- this should've been revenge. like they did find the pervert but he got out easy and they wanted more..
5- at one point the ml was too controlling, the fl was the hero that did most of the job while the ml always nagged her
6- this needed half the ep counts, they had too many repetitions
7- I'm not into cdrama osts
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THIS ADAPTATION SHOULDN'T EXIST
You didn’t adapt ORV. You just used its name.From the moment they announced the cast, it was already giving POPULARITY over accuracy. Jisoo as Lee Jihye? Lee Minho as Junghyook? Be serious. Did they even read the novel? Jihye is one of the most uniquely written characters in ORV—“We added the gun because Lee Jihye js not interesting enough” my ass. She didn’t need the gun, Jisoo does. She had her sword because she’s literally the incarnation of the Martial General. They didn’t give her a gun because of plot, they did it because Jisoo couldn’t handle the stunts. Don’t reduce a whole character just because your idol can’t swing two swords.
And Bihyung. My fluffy brown-clothed dokkaebi 🥺. They turned him into a Labubu-looking creature. You really took the most beloved chaos creature in ORV and made him unrecognizable. I actually cried when I saw him. That was NOT my lovable bihyung.
But the worst part? This. The plot. The core of ORV is how much Dokja LOVED the novel. He lived, suffered, and D!ED because of that story. And the author? They wrote it for HIM! “This novel is just for that one reader.” That line DEFINES the whole thing. TLS123/Han Sooyoung shaped the plot to fit what Dokja needed—she literally created entire characters for him (Hayoung??). So to have her say “write it yourself”?? That’s not just OOC. That’s erasure. That's disrespect.
This isn’t a reinterpretation. It’s not a creative twist. It’s straight-up bowdlerization. A shallow, fame-chasing rewrite of something deeply personal to us, fragments. YOU CANNOT BE CALLED A FRAGMENT IF YOU WATCH THE LA. Don’t watch it.
[This is a review from a member of our ORV GROUP PAGE; I sent this here for more people to know.]
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