I felt seen...
I felt like I could belong. This series not only help me realize what kind of F*d up world we live in, It also helped see understand myself and Love myself.I just read a comment saying how the male lead is effeminate and creepy and they just dropped the series because of it. I'd like to say to that person, good riddance. Because how people react watching this series is literally shows how society also treats these characters that are based on real people that exist.
This world makes us think that we need to fit in somewhere and do things how they want us to do. But in reality, this world is made for the entitled, elite that made all these society rules and those of us who recognize it and never succumb to fitting in know how difficult it is to be ones self but at the same time, how empowering it is to say "This is Me, I was born this way and if no-one comes into my life loving me for myself, then I dont want it". This series was exactly that.
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Honestly just read the Novel.
Its honestly disappointing. It disrespected the original source material to the very point where it's completely unrecognizable and different from its source, from even the overall messages and symbolism that ORV tried to convey, everything had been completely butchered. But by peeling and stripping away everything to adhere to the general audience's expectations, there won't be anything left to love. for all I could say it's quite disappointing and unimpressive to say the least. This is setting a supremacy for future and prospective Live action adaptations to completely mess up a beloved story by extracting all the aspects that make it great in the first place. You can't even call it an adaptation, it fails in every aspect. the cinematography is incompetent, Additionally some actors with major supporting roles are just completely sidelined for no appropriate reason. This exactly isn't a matter of an "accurate adaptation and depiction" anymore.Was this review helpful to you?
Lets face it its not great but its not bad either. ( lots of flims out there that are not great but perfectly fine to watch)
I was reading the other reviews...i question the scores....either they are being bais or i just have compelety diffrent view.
I'm scoring this based what i saw ...
Comedy: It was enjoyable, It was fuuny. i laughed :D
STORY: It seems simple..but quite the twsit you face at the end. The story was meant to be one of those that you laugh through the goffiness then bam! you realise what was really happening . HOWEVER .....I think it wasn't told in the best way. the end i thought was rushed. i was left totally confused with everything being revealed at once with not enough time to comprehend. I suggest rewatching the end.
ACTING: JJ i would say did a great job. i'm impresssed.lol maybe his got personal experience...SJH however...did not do a good job with her character . can't say i understood her very well.(acting aside..she was super cute)
MUSIC:(IN THE MOVIE) the songs themselves are fine. However the way that they are pesented was just...chessy(?)..it felt forced.
Would i rewatch?
No. not really maybe cuts from it..there were some funny bits i would rewatch.
Overall-
Not the best MADE film. The actors were fine nothing horrible. it was more of a for the fansmovies... so if you love JJ or SJH or both..GO FOR IT....all others hmm if you have time.
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1This review may contain spoilers
Justice is served
When you play a game of cards, the outcome is never 100% guaranteed. It can be predicted based on the players moves but it is never really absolute. It can change in the blink of an eye. One is expecting something and at the very last minute, the perceived unexpected happens. Why? To show that a person’s life path can be challenging and though? What is the point of climbing a mountain, through treacherous terrain, temperamental weather and conquering altitude sickness in hopes of enjoying a spectacular view at the top only to discover a cemetery instead?It's almost as if drama production teams were compelled to discreetly push and motivate the audience to continue watching the drama, building up hopes that it would be worthwhile and that fans would enjoy it, just to deliver them tombstones.
Blossom's production team, thankfully, delivered their implicit promise that the view from the top of the mountain would be incredible. In fact, the view was breathtakingly flawless, with the ending seemingly crafted in the stars. After going through the pits of hell with and for one another, Song Mo and Dou Zhao would finally be able to live happily together.
The deliverance of their wedding fairly early in the drama has allowed viewers to experience their marriage life for a significant number of episodes, which the majority of dramas tend to overlook in favour of unnecessary fill-ups that devalue the quality of the visual storyline and irritate viewers. Story quality over number of episodes worked extremely well as the 34 episodes perhaps minus one or two that could be condensed in the later stages of the drama were just right to tell a good story from beginning to end without dragging it out to 40 episodes with boring material that added nothing to the plot.
The story’s introduction was an epic masterpiece with Song Mo in a lengthy white/greyish hair, saving Dou Zhou and an orphan child from harm. His softness, tenderness, sensitivity, empathy and kindness were as riveting as the fated arrow that later pierced through them, binding their life stories together. It was so unexpected and mind-blowing that made the audience thirsty for more and did not let it down throughout. As they are pierced by the arrow, they fall through a large mirror, and travel back in time, waking up as children to begin their lives again.
Song Mo is a strong man, a powerfully humble, righteous male lead with an unquestionable sense of justice and loyalty who has been betrayed by a number of people, most notably his father, a duke who despised him in favour of his younger brother, an illegitimate love child whom he desired to be his legal heir. To accomplish this, he had no qualms in hurting Song Mo as much as he could, displaying his public contempt for the son who took a beating for him in front of soldiers. However, the father no matter how wicked and terrible he was, was a known enemy. Song Han, the seemingly soft studious brother, however, plotted Song Mo’s demise without publicly opposing him. The worse kind of opponent is the one that hides in the shadows and the most dangerous one is usually a family member. Betrayal after all never comes from an enemy. The most intriguing aspect of Song Mo is that, despite everything he has endured from his father and paternal relatives, his heart has remained pure and his honour has remained intact, as evidenced by his commitment and dedication to justice and determination to find the mastermind behind his maternal uncle’s demise.
Dou Zhao is a phenomenal strategist who, unlike Song Mo remembers everything about her previous life, and works tirelessly to remedy the mistakes that have led to their demise. In the present, with the red line of fate intertwined with Song Mo’s, they embark on a journey of mutual assistance, support, trust and love that transforms them into allies and converts them into a loving husband and wife, united against the world, literally transcending both time and space. Through her decisive actions Dou Zhao is able to achieve her goals and avoid repeating her past life mistakes, thanks to her strategic, decisive measures. Despite being unable to prevent her mother’s death or her best friend from becoming her stepmother, Dou Zhao is able to move in with her grandmother, grow up in peace, and build prosperous business ventures that provided her with financial freedom. She was also able to choose who she married, accepting Song Mo marriage proposal and becoming his wife, rather than marrying Wei Ting Yu as she had in her previous life and getting poisoned by him and her sister due to their simplistic idyllic love for one another.
Blossom is full of twists and turns with various demises as the story progresses including Dou Zhao’s sister Dou Ming and Wei Ting Yu who not also marry in the present but also die tragically, and her stepmother, who ends up living the rest of her life paying for her sins, among other characters like Song Mo’s father, to mention a few.
It almost seems like after a supporting character’s arch has served its purpose in the story, the character dies. Thus, death serves both as a karmic, tragic ending and a beginning to another uncovered plot, which continues until the very end with existing personas i.e. Ansu, Dou Zhou’s childhood friend who is granted the title of princess by the emperor and marries Song Han. She debuts early in the story, then goes about her life for a number of episodes before taking centre stage as Dou Zhou’s high-ranked sister-in-law, second only to the male leads, to propel the storyline forward. She stands by Song Mo, because she loves him, ignoring his distorted mind and sordid inner nature. A man who was willing to hurt another person in order to prove his physical superiority had a black heart and a corrupted spirit, as a result of his inferiority complex with Song Mo. In the end, Ansu serves justice by taking her husband’s life, showing that there is love and hate on opposite ends of the spectrum and their combination is fire and ice.
Yuan Tong / Ji Yong was an interesting character. In the first life, he was a monk, in the second, a game-changer strategic healer mastermind who strived for power to implement the changes in the empire that he saw as necessary, and aimed for Song Mo’s death to be with Dou Zhao, whom he admired and loved to the ends of the earth, whom he saw as an equal, and the ideal match for him. Yuan Tong was kind and light-hearted. Ji Yong on the other hand, was kind, deceitful and grey, a magician of fates, using people as pawns in his chess match to gain authority. The first wanted peace, and strived for good; the second wanted peace and aimed for war, believing that revolution was necessary and could only be achieved via force. He eventually achieved his professional goal of becoming the new dynasty’s chief grand secretary but loveless. Love, however had never been his main priority anyway.
Even though he was mentally in love with Dou Zhao, Ji Yong was more focused on his career than actively chasing her, unlike many second male leads. However, the character could not really be regarded as a second male lead in the first place. He was a dynasty manipulator who used Prince Qing and Song Han like his disposable pawns, who ultimately paid the price for their wrongdoings, demonstrating that even though they had the means to accomplish their goals, those things mean nothing in a conflict between evil and right, darkness and light, war and peace, hate and love. Karma should be fulfilled and love should ultimately triumph. That's what took place here. Justice was served, love prevailed and karma was served without the possibility of redemption but then love and redemption is another story.
All things considered, Blossom was refreshing sans the cliched storylines. As per usual troupe, the leads did not meet, fall in love, break up, and then reunite at the very end. They met, became allies, friends, fell in love, married, endured hell together, remained devoted to one another, and had a daughter they watched grow up. Since Song Mo and Dou Zhao only had eyes for one another and did not want to be with anyone else or put up with any interference in their relationship, there was absolutely no love triangle. Kudos to them for sticking together through everything life threw at them, for helping and caring for one other, for demonstrating what a healthy, stable, and loving relationship should look like, and for the happy ending.
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TharnType Season 2 Special: The Wedding Day
19 people found this review helpful
Wrapped up fairly well
I really enjoyed how this episode revolves 90% around Thanrtype as it should. Their story was wrapped up with a bow on top. It was really emotional seeing them finally getting married after two seasons of watching them grow together. I usually don't cry from being too happy but seeing them finally saw their vows made me shed tears.I would have been very interested to know how Champ and the doctor's relationship were progressing, but it was nice to see them at least acknowledge the relationship. The only real letdown was how Khlui and Seo were treated completely as comic relief; I would have liked to see at least one serious conversation with each other rather than making everything a joke.
All in all, it was a very happy finish to this story, and although not everything was perfect, it was rewarding to watch.
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A Mixed Bag of Emotions: Ji Chang Wook Shines, but Empowerment and Chemistry Fall Short
I recently immersed myself in Welcome to Samdal-ri, eager to witness the brilliance of Ji Chang Wook's acting prowess after watching him in Healer. While he undoubtedly delivered a stellar performance that left me in awe, I couldn't help but feel a void in terms of female empowerment and on-screen chemistry.Ji Chang Wook's portrayal was nothing short of captivating. His nuanced expressions, impeccable delivery, and undeniable charisma added depth to the character, making it difficult to look away. His acting prowess alone almost carried the entire show for me, and I applaud his dedication to his craft.
However, the storyline left me yearning for more when it came to female empowerment. Despite the potential for a strong, empowering female lead, the narrative fell short of delivering a character who could stand on equal footing with Ji Chang Wook's. It felt like a missed opportunity to showcase a more balanced dynamic between the male and female characters. I guess her wanting to lean on him was literal.
The chemistry, unfortunately, failed to ignite the screen. While both actors individually gave commendable performances, their on-screen connection lacked the spark that could have elevated the romantic aspects of the plot. This absence of palpable chemistry and incomplete storylines (like what happened to Sazal Kim's character Man-Su) left me somewhat detached and wanting more.
While the show had its moments, the missed opportunities in character development and resolution left me with mixed feelings about the overall viewing experience.
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Another plus point was it's music. It's been over a year since I watched this drama and I'm still in love with the entire OST. 'Because I miss You' is like my favorite Korean dram OST of all time. These things kept me going and that's actually the reason I'm giving this drama a 7 instead of a 6 or a 5. Because of it's awesome star value and music. Those who look for nice content and intriguing storyline should skip this one.
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Misunderstanding that amount to nothingness
Intro of this series was amazing, plot line seemed like something fantastic, i mean who does not want to be sucked into the world of immortals and their crazy power tussle and upside down romances but this drama is a whole bunch of that, that ended to nothingness. Don't get me wrong the storyline was making sense and each episode would keep you waiting for how it all began a 1000 years ago but the moment you arrive a 1,000 years ago the entire misunderstanding the show was built on amounts to nothing!!!You now begin to wonder why you stuck to the drama till the end!!!
With characters that could not be tied exactly to the main characters and it makes you wonder what the writer was trying to achieve.
My honest advice,skip this drama it is not worth your time!!!
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Anywho back to the movie. It is a great mash up of east meets west. A great cast, with everyone acting superbly. It's a cute movie about a girl and her friend being separated for greed. I won't go in to too much detail or else it spoils it. There were some tears and there were some chuckles. Definitely a rewatch just to see the girls relationship with Okja. Don't think there was a soundtrack and the movie seems shorter than it is, it is over 2hrs long. It is a Netflix production, which seems to be more of a thing nowadays. Great production with clear and lovely graphics.
Nice to see Choi woo shik, brought some comedy. Oooo and watch till the credits finish rolling for some more of him lol
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This review may contain spoilers
A love to be jealous of
Two enemies that could only be together bc of amnesia, and yes it's the first time I come across the amnesia trope almost 3 times and I loved it!JinAn/Annan/Man in black:
Cheng Lei ate all three roles with Jin An being my favourite. He is a dream boyfriend, his love is shown, not just articulated and, even when he was ruthless Annan, the writer made sure we know that Jin An is Annan and his principles are the same, it was never an act. He showed his prowess as a general, his etiquette as a prince, his affection as a brother even when he was Jin An with lost memories. And the Man in black is the alter ego, justice fighter that protects the world. All the personas merged into one at the end and you wouldn't wish for anything else
Li Shuang:
Song Yi is an underrated actress. She personified a role that had a job: she works as a general but she is also a woman, a lover, a human, a sister and a daughter, an adopted orphan thoughout the story(and not some long lost princess).She is amazing and her tears, her pain, her cries ripped my heart in the last 10 episodes. I mean I was literally crying for the duration of almost 8 hours, her acting is that good. And gosh how moist her eyes are, I'm jealous. Her relationship with Jin An was a revelation to witness bc she is us, every woman in the throes of love, flirting and being happy. And she didn't turn into a puddle when she found out he's her enemy. Captured, she delivered acid and sparred with him as equals, and you could see her heart breaking. It was so real you could almost hear the sound of it.
Chemistry:
100% achieved. The actors are familiar with each other and at times I got the feeling sth's underfoot. Lots of hugs, Cheng Lei's sculpted torso, lots of kisses and heart eyes. There wasn't any real skinship but we were delivered the BEST ending in cdrama so far so I won't whine, there's still hope in the industry
Friendship, family, death:
The fist ever drama where the ML forms a FRIENDSHIP with two of FL's friends, loses one and MOURNS her! We got a mourning scene of both the ML and the FL, her death wasn't brushed off with a nod, they cried for her! Also we witnessed the ritual of her father's funeral, so touching and real, I didn't know I needed to see it till I did!
Now her father is the best father in all cdrama land and he is not her read father. She is adopted and here we see a man RESPECTING his daughter! Have you ever heard of that before?
Her brother starts as a brat who grows into an adult and with him our FL grows too into a better sister.
Secondary characters:
Yes, and they move the plot forward each in their own way and have their own merit, they are very important and there wouldn't be a story or plot without them. Watch it and you'll see
Ending:
The last 10 episodes achieved what nth so far in cdramas has been achieved: an escalated interest, a gradual peak in the plot that kept you glued to your seat, waiting anxiously for the next episodes to drop and a constant ache in the heart. I couldn't stop crying, it was so painful till the all inclusive happy ending(and what a happy ending!) that I knew right there and then why all the previous episodes were so sweet and romantic:To FEEL their love, not just witness it. To BE Li Shuang, to experience it ourselves, to get in her shoes so it's us that are BETRAYED by fate, it's us who lose the love of their lives. Bravo writer!You have my tears and my heart. And 10 stars.
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THE BEST CHINESE DRAMA EVER!
The storyline is interesting. This drama has a sense of humour in it so you wont feel bored. You can laugh many times just watching it. Sometimes you will feel sad, happy, and you will experience mixed emotions in this drama.Male lead deserved my credit. He portrayed his character so fantastic and extremely good. He can convey his feeling through his expressions and voices. He has so soothing voice that makes his character suited him perfectly. His expression is priceless and just on point. His acting undoubtedly excellent.
Female lead absolutely a stunning beauty. Among the actresses i have watched, she is the most beautiful FL as if i see a breathtaking view by just seeing her. Her acting deserved credit also.
I missed them badly after this drama ended. They did a very good job on this drama. Will miss you Wang Ye and Wang Fei.
Recommendedly watching! Happy watching guys.
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This review may contain spoilers
A bit cringe, a bit drama and much fluff...
The most amazing thing about this series is, that it's a japanese/thai co-production, even when filmed in Thailand, everyone except "Junji" is thai.The start is rough with the subtitles, but it got better with ep 5... The first episodes are easy to follow even when you don't know exactly what they say, but everyone should get the gist of it. This story is similar to "Our Dating Sim" but with major differences. First the company is much bigger, second the couple did not meet in school, but through a game, even when that is not obvious for some time.
While a japanese production it follows the thai forumla, which means a bit of cringe and funny scenes which are not that funny in my eyes. But overall they did have a good story (not a stellar one), good character progression and even the "side couple" had ample of screentime and did not feel like an afterthought. The only sad point was, that Fluke resembled his acting in UWMA but his character was much stronger and focused. He did a good job and of course he did not need to cry every episode.
Interesting the main couple did not have any BL experience before this series and for their first outing they did exceptionally well. Hill (March Chutavuth Pattarakhumphol) is an inspired game designer who finally lands his dream job and Junji (Mukai Koji) is the CEO of the thai branch of a japanese gaming company and the only japanese working there. The writing of their characters was well done and they gradually show other sides of themselves and reveal that they are not as stereotypical as I have expected them to be from the first two episodes. They grow together in a mature slow way and both overcome their past trauma through trust.
The side couple has the veterans Judo (as Bay) & Fluke (as Phat) and both seem to have fun with their roles. While Bay is a game designer with a big ego and portraited as womanizer, Phat is reserved but a focused chef. Both couples find together due to the research there are doing for their new game which is a dating game but the main characters of said game are only boys. While Junji & Phat are obvioously gay, the other two characters seemed not to be, but this is not the typical hetero to gay trope. Bay sees/feels something in Phat he never felt before and Hill recognizes whom he loved all along (I will not spoil that to you). The only negative is the forced drama in the end, which is imho too much thai influence. They could have solved that in a better way in a less dramatic way.
We will see the side-couple hopefully again, because they announced a second season of "Make a Wish". Koji (Junji) will be back in a BL movie "Love Song" (https://mydramalist.com/782204-love-song) this year which is also a japanese/thai co-production playing in Thailand and Japan but sadly with another actor but who look very similar to March (Hill) imho.
The production was good, the actors were good and the vibe was good. I don't know why, but I felt happy watching this. So I see no reason why you should not to watch this series imho.
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Like chewing gum...
It started out kind of fun, an easy watch with a pretty cool female lead and good looking cast. There was a slight stiff awkward yet playful vibe to the story and most of the characters as well. Entertaining as long as you don´t care about logic, because well there is none. While most of the story and quality is inconsistent there is one thing that never fails and that is the lack of logic in the plot.There are of course some well loved drama cliches, and an abundance of umbrellas but as the episodes passed by I realised that the awkwardness that worked so well in the beginning was actually just lack of direction and/or talent from the leads. Add to that the plot just goes meeh, the slight build up of the first episodes just goes flat there is nothing really interesting to see there and while there are a few cute lines and smiles here and there it all just went bland... like the drama got covid and kept trying all kinds of flavours but had lost all sense of taste... Just like chewing gum bursting with flavour the first 2 minutes untill it slowley turs in turns to this tasteless mass you may be able to make bubbles out of but the falvour is gone...
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Now the series itself: I love how this series actually is different from what I've been watching its so cute. A pet shop owner falling in love with an author and how their love transpires over the course of the series, it has a little fluffy tone to itself and it is a more fluff based series. The characters were very entertaining, the friendship inside all of it was really nice. Most BL series are high school, a little dark, and little weird and normally just end sad or have an overly gripping story line that yeah you can relate to but seems to become the same staple for a series/movies like how car accidents or getting ran over is the staple in most k-dramas, that doesn't mean that I'm dismissing those staples because many of great works have those. This story line is still relatable, the conflicts are what people have gone through, still go through, and is still alive with others today it. I love the rising actions that take place, I got irritated with Liang Ze of course because most bottoms bother me in BL stuff but his character is a little different than most bottoms. I love the dialogue it's lighthearted and fun, the music was well placed for certain scenes, flat out i would recommend this as a nice beak away from a very serious show that you may have watched.
Now I don't give it praise, but i cant bash it either. Definitely, I love the fact that it's lighthearted and that it ends on a sweet note : (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywqp4Ve7qX8) (I do apologize that this has no subs but it's the ending part where someone mentioned that this is one of the BL series that ends happy) but truthfully the reason why i wouldn't give it all 10's is because the story line was simplistic the scenes weren't edgy and it didnt have as many transitions that reopened some foreshadowing in the series to uncover tension or a surprise for the viewers but honestly you don't need that all the time; a simply, delightful story structure goes a long way people. The series is really sweet but not like Moon Lovers, it's not like Diary of Tootsies, it's a short collection of episodes that you can watch when you cant decide on what to watch. It's really cute but then again everyone this is just an overall outlook from my perspective, my opinions. Some from a collective selections of other reviews and my knowledge gained from watching the series.
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