The Strong Man of Asia
Huo Yuanjia is a true blue real life martial arts hero right up there with Wong Fei-Hung, Fong Sai-yuk, Ip Man, Bruce Lee... they would all be top picks for my fantasy Shaolin soccer team! It is impossible to grow up without watching boat loads of kungfu shows about them. Even before I started this, I knew I must have already seen some permutation of it at least a gazillion times. And yet I still ate it all up like it was the first time; hovering anxiously for it to air every night and thrilled to my toes at every hair rising fight.Like most other accounts of this iconic and legendary figure's life, this drama clearly takes creative license with the truth in many places but overall, it still rhymes with the main figures and events that shaped Huo Yuanjia's life. Beyond all the typical martial world values and morality, this drama asks the question of whether standing up for one's beliefs and values is worth the heavy price and whether it is fair that family and friends become collateral damage. As a concession to the controversy surrounding his portrayal in Jet Li's Fearless, this drama emphasizes that Hua Yuanjia valued human life and did not kill indiscriminately which is more consistent with the philosophy underlying his famous Chin Woo Athletic Association that martial arts is practiced for keeping fit.
It goes without saying that this drama is extremely action intensive. And it is the kind of close up hand to hand combat that I really love with intense acrobatics and high impact flying kicks and punches aimed with devastating cruelty at internal organs. I don't have to sing praises for Zhao Wenxzhuo; nobody could better play this kind of intense action oriented martial arts role. I am a much bigger fan of his Wong Fei-hung than Jet Li's. There are lots of villains in this fast paced drama as Yuanjia's fame attracts as many enemies as friends. But the nasty Qing Mandarin Ying Si is just simply the most vile, fantastically dangerous villain I have seen in a long time and so convincingly acted that I loved to hate him.
As a life story, this is told chronologically and the action unavoidably climaxes in the middle and predictably builds to another peak at the end that underscores the message that Chinese can stand up against mismatched physical odds and show and the world not to underestimate the strong man of Asia. I have seen that David vs Goliath moment so many times and yet every time I am so satisfied I feel like belching loudly and thumping my chest.
What I love most about this drama is Huo Yuanjia's wife - Madam Wang whose given name is unknown (imagine they had five kids and no one even remembers her name!). She must be almost entirely fictionalized but nonetheless they made her completely awesome. She can't fight but she is so brave, loyal, gracious, forward looking and so clever she saves them multiple times. I also like that this Huo Yuanjia is far from perfect - he can be chauvinistic, patriotic, inflexible and overly conservative. How these flaws impact his relationship with his family, friends and disciples and how he experiences growth as he comes to understand and accept other points of views is very well articulated.
This is more than just another extremely well choreographed gratuitous martial arts action drama. It all gets wrapped into a story about an amazing life journey with many cherished companions, some who sadly are lost along the way. Even though it definitely feels very familiar and is at times even predictable, it is only in the best of ways. So if you are in the mood for some intense action and a trip down memory lane, this is a good choice, I give it a solid 8.0
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Very poorly developed storyline
Honestly, I don't have much to say about this series. I knew some of the actors, so I decided to give it a chance. I will only expose my opinion, but I want to make it clear, that I really respect the personal opinion of each person, and also respect their tastes and preferences, regardless of the genre of the series, being BL or not.This particular drama, I did not find interesting, even the issues addressed, in fact, is like any other BL series, it's more like they copied a scene from each series and made an adaptation, and see, I watched very few. The story had nothing different or innovative, and was even confusing in some moments.
Chemistry? There were indeed moments when Fighter and Tutor showed chemistry by their reactions, however, their relationship seemed to have more lust than love. I believe, that they should do more work on this storyline, and honestly, the pandemic is not an excuse for a failed storyline. The second main couple may be considered cute, but there is nothing interesting in their story.
In this Drama, there was absolutely nothing that hooked me.
As I am fair with my evaluations, from my opinion, it is worth pointing out that Zee was expressive in his character and Saint's acting, improved a little, he acted better as Tutor than as Pete, but he still has a long way to go, his acting is good, but not great, maybe because the characters he plays have some similar characteristics. The moments that he stood out for acting with a different characteristic, were in the Hot scenes and only! But for me, sex scenes are irrelevant, I consider the content more. Even if they have many hot scenes between the characters, it's not a problem, the main issue is when they emphasize too much these intimate moments between the characters, than to show how their relationship develops, for me the chemistry between FighterTutor only came down to sexual desire, and only this is not enough.
The second main couple, I can't tell, but in many moments they seem like beginners to me.
Regarding the rest of the cast, what is the need to adapt many couples? There is no point in having a great cast and good actors, if in the end, the story of none is well worked out. This storyline failed miserably!
An interesting point that I have observed following the comments, and the reviews, is that a great part of the public, are not totally fair in their evaluations.
Particularly, I can honestly say, that the BL industry is successful only with fanservice, ships and hot scenes, because it seems that many consider the chemistry between the characters only in these moments, and do not consider the plot itself, because most BL Dramas, can be considered toxic, there are only a few that really have a good story and are worth it.
I believe that the overall rating should be considered for the overall performance, taking into consideration the plot, and the acting of the entire cast, not just your favorite actors. I confess, if I were to consider only my favorite actors, my feedback would be much more positive and my ratings would be much higher. But actually, from my observation, considering the ratings, people only support ships and their favorite actors.
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This review may contain spoilers
When I first heard about this upcoming drama I hesitant to watch because there was a lot of hype surrounding the cast, mainly the star Park Seo Joon. I've watched a lot of his work so I didn't understand what the fuss was about. The show had not even begun and I thought it's probably overrated. And it turned out to be true.
I like to highlight all the good points of a drama first least I be accused of bias (which I am half the time) but it's really to acknowledge someone's hard work. A lot of times we dislike dramas and then fall into a rant and I myself am guilty of this on numerous occasions but someone gave their best effort and it might not reach everyone the way they expect but good on them for doing what others could not.
That said what drew me to the show initially was the fact that it was a webtoon turned drama. I'm a big fan of these as they offer more range of expressions for the characters. You get to see them as more. For this drama the acting was top notch, with a special shout out to Kim Da Mi, she gave a phenomenal performance. Park Seo Joon continues to showcase his range and talent.
Another blast is the diversity of the cast. I loved it.
The first 6 episodes were very attention grabbing and I thought maybe I was wrong, the was definitely living up to hype but then it fell into the standard kdrama mold. The storyline was not strong to begin with but if it was told well I wouldn't have minded. It started strong then dragged in the middle then had a sloppy happily ever after ending that made me regret starting the show in the first place.
Park Sae Ro Yi (love the name) character showed almost no growth. He was practically the same from the beginning of the story to the end. The show was a span of fifteen years and it was only after an accident he resolved his feelings about his father and his love interest in a dream. In a show about David fighting goliath, that is how he reached personal growth? Doesn't count in my book.
Next pet peeve was the so called romance. The show wasn't focused on it at all and it should have remained so. It would have been better off without it instead of trying to shove a bunch of intimate scenes in the last three episodes. By this point I didn't care about any of the coupledomes. I was heavily invested in Park Sae Ro Yi's revenge. I wanted him to get his revenge and witness the ensuing fall out but none of that happened.
My Opinion
Sometimes I think the art of storytelling is dying but I know it's just being pressured under the weight of ratings and popularity which is sad. A lot of the dramas today have strong starts or interesting premises but get derailed by trying to win people over and marketing. But i keep patient because every once in a while I strike gold. This wasn't it but it was ok.
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I had to watch this over the span of two months because from the fifth episode on it just wasn't interesting enough; the plot was dragged and all over the place, most of the character actions didn't make any logical sense and the fact that they took a different setting just to force the typical couple dynamic of hot and then cold jerk and understanding and annoyingly forgiving woman just makes all of this feel like you're watching the same old thing all over again.
With these things in mind, I suggest completely letting your logic and reason fall asleep and then settling down to watch this because this isn't a show that can really be taken seriously...otherwise it would get offensive.
The story brings absolutely nothing new to the table except for the appearance of the third male lead. That's it; we have the cool-headed, cold-hearted male psychiatrist who doesn't believe in love and decides to use that in his actual work in an experiment that frankly insults the profession of a psychologist. Enter the main female who has some super powers given to her by the late Austrian queen (not the historical version of course, because that wouldn't be romantic and in the dipshit Korean drama heroine fashion, she needs to be ignorant), and uses them to help people overcome their hurdles in life. There were times when you could glimpse at how smart her character could've been but somewhere around the middle of the show that was all thrown to the wind and consistently dragged out so as to get to the 16 episodes cap.
The supporting characters very quite funny and entertaining to watch, especially the scenes of the other two ships but there was also problematic writing that made some genuinely lovable characters insensitive and dumb. The plot is also intertwined with a few cases that were there to announce that it's a psychology drama but all of that disappeared in the second half where I could see many commenters on Viki asking 'What happened to [insert character name]' because both the story and the writing were quite frustrating and lost at that point.
In regards to acting, I think everyone did a pretty good job. It's only due to reusing the same old K-drama type of characters which made the entire cast unbalanced at times and the script generally had an issue with character development.
The musical background was neat, I don't recall songs being out of sync with the overall feeling of the scenes but neither was there a particularly memorable tune.
I personally won't rewatch this drama, the draggy plot is simply not worth it.
There was a great chemistry between the leads in the kissing scenes (quite hot at that), but it fell short in the other ones; as much as they have tried to carry across this 'sizzling' romance. That is, of course, to be blamed on badly timed scenes coupled with immature ones. Sung Joon did some incredible acting but his character is built on layers upon layers of mistrust, deceit and lies, while on the other side, Go Hye Rim is gullible to the point of stupid which makes for a lot of lovely episodes that will make your blood boil. I also feel that a lot of key points of the plot were rushed or simply passed over as if nothing happened, they crammed a few cliches near the end and some characters who were important were never heard from again.
Truthfully, there is so much wrong with this drama that it would take a long time to summarize and I don't think it's worth it to take it so seriously. This is neither 'Kill me, heal me' nor is it 'It's okay, that's love' and I think it shouldn't be taken that way at all. With a lighthearted approach, this can be watched as a cute albeit cliched drama with a few steamier kissing scenes. Anything other than that is just pulling at the leg.
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This review may contain spoilers
It's so good I have to create a user here to post a review
I took 0.5 out of the overall score because the ending felt too rushed! I wish there could be just one more EP to wrap things up properly.Highly recommended to those who are immune to cliché and old-school plot.
Extra highly recommended to those who are into lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers(again) trope.
OSTs superb.
Casts surprisingly good. Chemistry off the chart. I'm a fan of both leads now.
No annoying love triangle.
*SPOILER BELOW*
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Happy ending - could still use one more EP for an 'epilogue'
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I will start with the acting. I initially was reluctant with watching this drama because of PMY. She is not a particularly great actress, but she wasn't bad at all in this drama and she has improved quite a bit since her City Hunter days. Still not anything exceptional but passable.
Ji Chang Wook is a whole different ball park. He is the prime example of inconsistent. When he was good he was so good. There were moments where I was amazed by his ability to transition through his multiple characters in seconds. Although some of his typical reactions, that the main three characters seemed to be victim too, of ridiculously widening their eyes to express shock just had me cringing. JCW biggest failing was his dramatic scenes. He has a tendency to overact and it completely pulled me out of the diegetic space due to the sheer ridiculousness of it.
That being said the supporting actors were amazing in this drama. So damn good. Ajumma, Kim Moon Shik, Myeong Hee, Secretary Oh. Perhaps the best performance for me was the young Moon Shik. Both actors managed to portray the nuances of such a multifaceted character so well.
The storyline was decent but at times unengaging, confusing and boring. It wasn't until the link between Jung Hoo's and the 1981'ers was made that I become truly interested in the overarching plot. I spent a lot of the drama confused about what was actually happening. Why Jung Hoo after a lifetime of not caring about anyone suddenly become interested in his father's past and clearing his name and some sense of newly found moral code because of some girl just didn't cut it. He had been dormant for too long. There was no natural progression. It was arbitrary and random it was much later on in the drama after him and CYS actually getting into a relationship that made it make sense. Heck I didn't even know Kim Moon Shik was part of the broadcast crew until reading the dramabeans review. Perhaps it was my own inattentiveness but there were too many instances where things were glossed over. The focus of the first half of the story just disappeared to never make a reappearance, albeit being linked to the latter half. One minute were talking about red lead the next about live bacteria. We never got a full explanation of what happened with Moon Shik, Omega Holdings. There was too much form- links-in-our-own-mind rather than explicitly showing, that I did not like about this story.
The romance tonally was inconsistent. I expected a lot more maturity for a action drama but sometimes it felt really immature. Especially initial chase of the relationship. Jung Hoo widening his eyes and being shocked because CYS grabbed his hand. I just don't get it. I agree with one part the lack of petty love triangles made this romance all the more enjoyable. Their understanding and trust for each other really made them a great couple (plus the cuddling /dies/). Ep 15 was amazing, rewatch worthy. Overall the romance was good, but could have been executed much better.
Finally the one thing that was consistent and amazing throughout the drama, was the action. The missions Healer went on, his action scenes, his lithe ability to navigate himself in any situation. It had me captivated throughout the drama. The action aspect of this drama was the highlight of it easily. The small subplots were much more interesting than the overall one.
Overall, a good drama, but definitely not worth the hype. Did not have me awed like City Hunter but worth a watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
There are spoilers in this review.Beautifully filmed and well written.
I was really surprised after watching this movie because I didn't expect much. I thought I would just skim through it and be like meh but ended up watching the whole thing and even liking it!
First of all, acting is pretty good, these people know what they are doing. All characters are well written, lovable and hateful in their own ways. But I am a little bit disappointed with the screenwriting in general. I didn't expect this movie to be so black and white about the moral codes.
One of the messages is that love is timeless. I like that message the most. An old man wishing he was young again so he could love freely. It's pretty sad if you ask me, that just because he is old it's wrong to have those beautiful feelings. So he pours those feelings into a beautiful poem which, unfortunately, gets stolen by his student. It's as if his feelings got stolen and sold, disgraced. And as if that wasn't enough the student also steals the purity of EunGyo. He pretty much tramples Juk Yo's heart, smashes it into a miserable paddle. I don't know, what he does is like peeing on his teacher's face after receiving all the teaching and then stealing the rest what he could. He gets totally swallowed by greed. No wonder Juk Yo retaliates in the end, I'm not sure if he really hoped for such a thing happen in the end or if he just wanted to scare Ji Woo a bit. I don't know, but I kind of feel for him. I mean he got old, lost his glory (to Ji Woo), lost everything and then he realized that he wasn't even allowed to love because that would be simply wrong. If I was him I would wonder about it too. I mean, it's love. And well, Juk Yo wasn't even asking for much, he just enjoyed her presence and the innocence. He was probably reminded of his own youth and all that...
I actually enjoyed Ji Woo's and EunGyo's interactions. I liked it how Ji Woo was annoyed by how easily EunGyo managed get on Juk Yo's good side. He constantly listened to her and allowed he to do whatever she wanted while being extremely strict with Ji Woo. As I watched Ji Woo and Eun Gyo together I was waiting for some kind of atonement for JI Woo's character. That maybe her innocence would touch his heart too and make him view things in different light. But instead, she only turned these two men against each other. Love can be ugly too. It was clear why Ji Woo couldn't write as beautifully as Juk Yo, because his spirit was confined within the society's norms and he wasn't able to break free. Too many superficial things mattered to him while Juk Yo, well he was just a poet who loved writing, that's all.
In a way, I think Ji Woo was a really sad character too, completely trapped. He struggled to get free but he was too petty and close-minded, ambitious without the talent. Juk Yo was trapped too but, at least, he had an open mind. I don't think Ji Woo cared about EunGyo on the emotional level, he might have been lonely, he definitely was and probably smitten by the poem too. He tried to live it but... how can you live the beauty of timeless love without feeling it? Maybe Juk Yo knew it, that what he write could never be lived because once the purity is lost it's lost forever.
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That awkward quality I kind of liked.
I don’t know how to verbalize my feelings about this show. It’s not good - it’s drowning in awkwardness. The set design at times looks awkward, the acting seems awkward, the writing is awkward and so is the directing. Somehow, that awkwardness was strangely charming? I feel like I enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons.For a short show like that, it tries to tackle a bit too many issues and ideas. Stalking, unreciprocated feelings, coming out. I appreciate the more serious takes - it’s hard to be a female, because there will always be a creep with weird ideas. Gossips about your sexuality can be harmful and scary, especially if you are still figuring things out. All that was there, but just surface level type of a deal. Still, with a lot of, if now most BLs being “everyone if either gay or loves gays”, this show being just slightly less pink colored glasses view was nice, even if barely explored.
The thing I like the most about this show is how dramatic and over the top about the most basic things RoA was. Him being all “you have no right to worry about Ji Woo” when talking to Yu Na. Damn boy, she is his friend, she has the right. Or when he did not even let Ji Woo confess his feelings with his “you might never get another chance of someone you like confessing their feelings to you”... what, is he going to die the next day? Does he have one chance in life to be in a relationship, and if he passes it, that’s a done deal - he stays single till the end of his days? Where was the logic? Why so dramatic? They did not set up ANY reason for him to reject Ji Woo… it just came out of nowhere.
When he dropped the “He had to suffer like that. It’s all because of me” I turned into a question mark. What the heck is this child talking about? What suffering? How were you the cause of said non-existing, completely made up by your imagination suffering? People gossiped for like two days, long term no one cared. Not one person. And then he went “He’s in pain because of me” SURE HE IS, BECAUSE YOU REJECTED HIM! The poor boy has a broken heart. I literally cried from laughing when he started to say Ji Woo’s feelings for him are just an illusion. My dude, you are the one creating issues and problems for yourself that have no place in reality and never happened. That whole scene was just a gold unintentional comedy.
Not to mention how he left school all dramatic, last month before the semester ends, when he literally had just that semester left to graduate. What an emo kid move, I have to appreciate it.
The side romance between the student and the teacher got me wheezing. It’s not like it’s wrong - she is an adult after all, he is her teacher for just one class for one semester. It was just so painfully awkward, because this guy here teaches about relationships, love, romance, family, and yet he can’t handle one female student having a crush on him, looking so awkward. Especially in the last episode, I died a little bit during their scene.
It’s hard to talk about acting. Some scenes were truly natural. The double date scene was so fun and cute. The four actors have an amazing and natural chemistry. Then more dramatic and emotional scenes happened and sadly, the quality dropped. Delivering a realistic crying scene is not easy, I get that, but none of the sad scenes in this made me feel sad.
Production and directing wise, it felt like a project of a student with amazing potential, but not yet polished skills. Some shots were truly nicely done, well planned camera angles and lighting. Some… were shaky - both literally and in quality.
Overall, my brain told me to drop it, yet my body was clicking to watch the next episode at the same time. I just cannot explain it. I had a lot of fun, even though it made little sense. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed it? All the things I ranted about in the review were actually the reasons why I liked the watch.
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A fun drama to watch !
True beauty was just a fun drama to watch during your downtime or if you need a break from any action pack dramas. I think this is a show that is not for everyone. True beauty is a fun and endearing show, also really tropey but it was really silly, But I would recommend this if you just need a calm drama with not that much thinking.Okay for that acting I enjoyed their acting it was not the best but it was still amazing.
Ju Kyung is a bit ditzy and clumsy, she grew a bit better as a character which was great. Moon Ga Young did a great job at portraying this character and made you feel sympathy towards Ju Kyung. I defiantly wanted her to have a better future.
Soo Ho was one of the love interests of Ju Kyung, he was like the tsundere type coming off as cold at first and then slowly you get to know him more. Cha Eun Woo did a great job at playing Soo Ho since he did play a similar character in My ID is Gangnam Beauty so I believe he took some elements from that character due to similarities.
Ju Kyung and Soo Ho relationship were super cute and just fun to watch. One of my favorite things about this couple is that Soo Ho falls in love with Ju Kyung first.
Seo Joon !! I loved him !! Seo Joon grew on me during the show and I was kinda rooting for him a bit at the end. He was a bad boy and Hwang In Yeop played him so well probably one of my newest favorite actors.
For Seo Joon and Ju Kyung's relationship, I found it so cute. They had a playful and tease relationship which I'm a sucker for Lol.
Soo Ho and Seo Joon's relationship were honestly one of the most heartbreaking things to watch in this show, there was just a lot of misunderstanding between them. I just wanted them to just sit and talk and when they finally did it was so heartwarming seeing their friendship come back. I love this bromance
OST not one of my favorites but did enjoy all the songs. My favorites were "Love So Fine" by Cha Eunwoo and "How Do You Do?" by Chani
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This review may contain spoilers
I rate dramas on how I felt while watching the drama and if I was emotionally involved with the characters. All dramas are going to have flaws, but if the story and acting can overcome them, then I give it a high score. I felt great watching Pinocchio each and every week. The writer did an excellent job with the flow of the story, well written dialog and excellent character development. I could not find any holes in the story line and nothing seemed contrived even with all of the coincidental meetings. I loved that the characters are flawed. I usually hate a lot of extra characters, but all of the characters in this drama add to the story and quite a few of them are daebak. The cast is great. I'm not sure where to start so I will begin with Park Shin Hye. I'm not a big fan of hers although I have pretty much seen every drama she has been in. I constantly remark that she must have saved a country in her past life due to working with excellent male leads. Finally Lee Jong Suk taught her how to kiss. Apparently she has taken some acting lessons, because she did In Ha proud. Lee Jong Suk to me is perfection. He is good looking, can act, and has moved away from those stupid high school rolls in his last 3 dramas. Dal Po will be with me for a while. Where did Yoon Gyun Sang come from and why hasn't he been in more dramas? Seriously. As Ki Jae Myung he isn't even in the drama very much, but his scenes have an impact and I was truly moved by his character. I believe I have seen almost everything that Kim Young Kwang has been in. Although I don't think that he is the best actor out there, he really showed what he can do as Seo Bum Jo. That one part where he is talking to Dal Po and he is half crying and half laughing was so well done that I cried with him. A rare occurrence for me. I have see Lee Joo Seung in several dramas and I have always thought he is so adorable and a good actor. He adds so much to this drama as Ahn Chan Soo. He is basically the catalyst to the entire drama. Now to the two extra characters that made this show worth watching if for nothing else but to see their quirky and adorable selves, Lee Yoo Bi as Yoon Yoo Rae and Lee Pil Mo as Hwang Gyo Dong. I loved all of their scenes. There are other extra characters that are fun to watch also, but those two stand out. There are also some guest rolls that are funny and appropriate like Yoon Sang Hyun as Lawyer Cha from IHYV in Ep.12 and Lee Joon in Ep. 19. Last but certainly not least is Jin Kyung as Song Cha Ok. She makes for an excellent cold-hearted woman. SPOILERISH >>> At first I thought her character change toward the end would be a mistake, but the writer gave an outstanding explanation and developed her character to where it made since. <<<SPOILERISH Kim Hae Sook knows how to play crazy better than most people and she delivered as Oh Mal Su. Gotta love to hate her.
The music is good and appropriate.
I will rewatch this some day for sure.
I know this was a long review, but I hope it makes you want to watch this drama. I highly recommend it to everyone.
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Maybe not the best drama (or maybe not) but the perfect one for me...It's contains all the things I like : action, suspense, romance and comedy.
There wasn't any dull moment when I watched the show. I loved it from the beginning to the end and was never disappointed and even pleasantly surprised by the development of the story.
Thank you so much to the writer, Song Ji Na, who made some of my fantasies comes true and for the perfect cast.
I was already fond of Ji Chang Wook but the character of "Healer" made me fall over heels for this actor (like when Lee Jun Ki owned me after his performance in the drama "Hero" - where Ji Chang Wook played a supporting role!). I didn't know Yoo Ji Tae but now, I have to check his movies! And the hacker Ahjumma was so great.
I liked the chemistry between all the characters! Of course, the OTP was awesome but it wasn't the only relationship that made me enjoys this drama. I liked the relationship between Jeong Hoo and Moon Ho and all the other interactions (Healer-Ahjumma, Moon Ho-Moon Shik). All the characters from the leading to the supporting ones were well written.
What was the most pleasant thing for me is that there is always a moment in the dramas (even if the beginning is great) when the writer "invent" some sort of problems between the OTP which leads to some misunderstanding between the characters but there were none in this one and it was really REFRESHING!
Dont hesitate, just watch and enjoy this drama as much as I did!
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this was boring as fuck...
There is no real story... it's just inconsequential and irrelevant. Nothing happend for 1h 15mins. The BL and the GL go together on the island. The BL returning home and the GL for a vaction. They chat about nothing, have some dinner, some walking and some kissing and that's it. I was bored out of my mind. The best of this episode are the shoots of the nature... Then there is the obligatory kiss under water (which was filmed in a tank and not the ocean, because in an ocean that's nearly impossible to do).I can't even say it's bad. To be bad there must be story, but there was nothing. If you are bored you can watch it for some eyecandy and some nice landscape shots, but you can leave the volume off, because nothing they say is in any way interesting.
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Before I get into the cons (which I'm sure is what most people are interested), I will say that overall, I think it's solid and didn't regret watching it at all. It kept me interested and did not have any overbearing flaws, so although I will get into the cons, just overall do note I enjoyed the drama and would give it a recommend.
First, I think the story is nothing special. It's not bad by any means, hence the 6/10, but it's hardly anything to write home about. Actually, I think the episodic story-structure is very similar to most modern Thai school dramas, except it's a little bit more polished. Similar to many Thai dramas I've watched, you can pretty accurately guess the direction of the episode 5-10 minutes in, but unlike other Thai dramas, this one is supported by actual messages it's trying to send and keeps you decently hooked.
Second, I think the cast in general is poorly designed / utilized. Although they have well-defined personalities and great actors/actresses behind them, a lot of the cast is absent for most of the series (due to the episodic structure only focusing on the main characters + character of the story), and their abilities range widely in utility. It's very clear when you watch the show who has better abilities and whose abilities are too niche for much use. In particular, the main character seems too crafty and suffers from "protagonist knows more than he/she should", which kind of hurts the plot imo.
Third, and this may be my misinterpretation gone wrong, but I fundamentally disagreed with the message the show tried to send at the finale. Not because I thought it didn't hold merit, because it did hold merit and was shown before, but because I thought it was inconsistent with the characters. I just didn't believe the characters would make that choice in the end, and it left me feeling very unsatisfied.
Despite these flaws, I still give this show a recommend. A lot of my problems with it were only realized after I watched the show, which means during the show these problems shouldn't be too irritating.
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Waste of potential
Was really excited and hype for this drama when it first came out. Was a fan of zhao lusi so was really disappointed that the storyline really laydown the cast. It was BORING, is all I can say. The storyline is predictable and a copy paste of past drama with the same drama. Nothing new.Their was no chemistry between the leads. The ml acting is stiff and only had one expression for most of the drama, but that maybe because of his character having being a stoic, cold true god???? But because of that I felt no love between them, more like sibling vibes. SO all that tribulation didn't really make me invested in the characters or their journey.
The drama felt draggy and scenes where nothing is happening or it going nowhere. Even if you skipped, you missed nothing. The villian motives are the same old, nothing new, 'jealously'.
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It's better but definitely need more improvements.
After twelve torturing episodes, I can finally, completely say that the only reason I kept watching this series are the great acting of Ohm Pawat and Nanon Korapat. They had one of the best BL chemistry that made me hooked into the series, they both made me laugh, cry, swoon, above all else. Ohm's previous filmography with BL series/movies is one big advantage, but Nanon finally proved once again he's a really good actor, playing all out and no backing down. (That kiss scene in Episode 5 is unlike any other, never been I cried harder watching two men kissing so passionate and loud.) Also, kudos for GMM TV finally trying to test the water with GL story, I like it, I wish sometime they can make one.But it's all unfortunate that many of the series's plot (outside of Pat/Pran's complicated love story and their endless feud and Ink/Pa's love story) is way too rough and illogical on many parts – on some parts it felt "jumpy" and on many other parts I honestly feels all these Ohm/Nanon scenes are fan service. I was expecting something that can be crunched slower and more smooth. Whether it was Backaof's fault or somebody else, it's hard to tell, because I feel that "jumpy" series are somewhat more common when a production is halted due to the rising cases of COVID, then the crew lost significant time and forced to rush everything, changing and cramming the script just to fit the deadline and COVID restrictions.
Ah, now about fan service. It looks like Backaof and the GMM TV team really discovered the recipe to make their viewers scream, and actually since this is the first BL premiered after the brutal Delta variant, this is all that we wanted and it's worth it. But I hope in the future we can go further and avoid playing "fan service card" too much, because ITSAY just broke all your standard for BL. I want compelling stories not fan services. Bad Buddy *is* breaking standard, but only vis-a-vis other GMM TV's BL series.
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