This review may contain spoilers
Not a 10/10 for me
If you’re wondering whether to start this drama, just know that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. And just because I expressed my different opinion about this drama, I received hate from those who loved it. But that’s ok, it’s contrary to popular opinion and I guess some just cannot have an open mind.The pace and the storyline is quite fast and interesting. I did not really fancy the first 25 episodes. The general storyline of starting university, facing its ups and downs was fine. However I could not like the ML and the way he treated the people around him. And the way the FL just followed him like a puppy just didn’t sit right w me. Episodes 26-36 was much better as it showed more maturity and development in most of the characters.
The one I felt most sorry for was Lao Gao. Yes, what he did was terrible, very malicious and downright horrible. BUT… I do believe Li Xun had a part to play in how he turned out to be. And the fact that till the very end- Li Xun was not even a little bit remorseful of how he treated Lao Gao during the early days was truly sad.
Li Xun was the most disappointing character of all. At the start of uni, he was arrogant, tactless, self-absorbed and narcissistic. After going to prison for 3 years, you would have thought that he would change, be more humble, learn a tough lesson in life no? Truly.. no. He comes out of prison, he’s still the same incorrigible stubborn a**hole. He even admitted it himself. There were many many things he could have done better:
1) Treated his teammates in his IT club with more respect, more courtesy and be less condescending. That is a mark of a good leader.
2) He should have treated Zhu Yun with more dignity and respect. Instead of doing things his own way, he shld have been open and honest and letting her decide and make her own choices. Not manipulate the situation “for her own good”.
3) Zhu yun- in a way I respect her for sticking by his side. She could get past all his flaws and “help” him become a better man. But in that manner, I felt she lost her own self respect and what could have been a different future.
4) make more effort in trying to convince ZY parents. At least show them how much he loves her, that he will take care of her etc.. after all, that’s what most parents want for their children anyway. That assurance. nope nothing… didn’t even try. Or try harder. Ok the mum was over board and pretty much condescending (just like LX) and prejudiced towards him as well. But I did not agree with them getting married just like that behind the parents back.
The ML had a god-like complex, where he thinks he is the best and he is superior. If he had changed towards the end of the drama (which had some hints of it around Epi 30-34) but come 35/36 again he showed his superiority, I may have liked him more ;)
Anyhow, in conclusion: the drama itself is quite good. I just won’t glorify the ML’s character and behaviour or agree with his actions. So it’s not your typical hero/ fantastic/ romantic/ “perfect” ML, FL.. just watch with an open mind:)
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START-UP IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE "SHIPS", DON'T MISS THE WHOLE POINT.
The story was really inspiring. The viewers can see how much a start-up can really grow as a big company. Seeing the hardships of Dosan and DalMi to reach their dreams welcomed me to "follow my dreams".Only JiDal shippers say it's disappointing. I get it that you want your bias to win over DalMi, but it's your fault for getting your hopes up too high when you know that the drama is made for NJH and Suzy in the very first place. Also, the poster says it all. Anyway, people who just see and measure start-up based on "ship" missed the whole point of the K-drama. Start-up is a series more than the love story. It is about family, dreams, and friendship.
Set aside what others are saying that it's not good. You'll see, Dosan and DalMi is a perfect match, too! ❤️
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I feel like I have been BL cdrama punched. A franchise who were carried by fans for years . Known as the ONLY asian safe haven for lgbt and their supporters has gone off the rails. The ultimate bait and switch. In no way did the lgbt community need a tragic life lesson. They have real history and real life plenty for that. I feel this production was sold out and forced to do this ending. It’s the end of a franchise. In a year where lgbt marriage is legal there they could have celebrated young love. Instead we get this. No. I’ll give my time to another writer, another show. Was this review helpful to you?
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Conflicted Literature
PrologueMy mind never fails to go completely blank right before writing these.It feels somewhat like a line of astounding talents gone ahead before me, and my absent minded ass is up next. No idea what to write, how to portray these thoughts that future me can look back on and feel every word of it as if I’m in front of the television again pressing play for the first time. What do they want to see from this review? How do they feel of this drama? Man, wouldn’t it be so much easier to just be like the rest? Well my dear silent minority, we aren’t like the rest. Our thoughts differ, lights dim out, voices hollow, presence uncertain.
But, every now and then some of us gather the strength to shout our unpopular opinions loud enough for everyone willing to hear. Lights begin to flicker back on as we approach our biggest momentary fear, the stage is ours. Make no mistake, no matter how nor if the audience responds back to you, you’ve done something for us that will always inspire those after. There’s no telling when you’ll feel like this again, nor get the chance to express it.
You then realize those lights that were so intimidating before were never dimmed. At last , a star is born.
Man vs Everything
I’ll get my biggest frustration with this drama out of the way first to make up for the rambling. Jeongnyeon is not a complete drama. In fact, you’ll feel there’s something missing at the very beginning, but it only becomes apparent towards the end. There’s several components to a story, and that one thing you’re having that gut feeling is missing in this one, is conflict.
How so? We’ve seen many antagonists introduced, as well as internal and external struggles made out as obstacles in our leads’ way. Poor upbringings, jealousy, underdogs, loss, scandals, defamation, the list goes on. Well, could you really make these things out to be conflicts when even the characters absolutely refuse to?
First we have our favorite little star Yun Jeong. Dimwitted, until she’s not. Inexperienced, until she’s not. Star of the show, until she’s not. Daring, until she’s not. Determined, until she’s not. Damn near mute with multiple medical professionals’ ruling it as so… until, well.
My surprising favorite that deserved closure and proper writing all around, Yeong Seo. I haven’t seen a single thing from the actress until now with this drama, and i can still tell this is easily the best performance she’s put on without needing to see any other. In fact, i won’t even butcher her character here any more than the writing already had. Just know, she deserved much, MUCH better..
Speaking of deserving better, let’s reel in the last few who deserved worse. Despite my unpopular perspective with the Prince of the stage herself, I’ll admit, Moon Ok Gyeong is hands down the most fascinating character that’s completely open to interpretation. She’s a fan favorite to many, both in and outside the drama. To me? She’s the epitome of toxicity and the most subtle portrayal of an antagonist I’ve seen this year. I know that opens alot of doors for discussion, and to be fair, they’re probably not even opened at all had the webtoon been adapted faithfully enough. But we’re going from the abomination they chose to throw out for us to mindlessly consume, and that being my conclusion.
Now here’s someone i feel for certain couldn’t have been redeemed well enough in the original work to make sense of, Ju Ran. Another popular favorite, but i see no logical reason why outside of some piss poor GL teasing. Her storyline was the sole confirmation that cuts that shouldn’t have even been considered , were made. The heavy censorship behind her relations with everyone was adding gasoline to a forest fire. I see no potential redemption of this character in even the webtoon whenever i decide to pick it up. But hopefully I’m wrong.
To make something clear, this drama is by far Kim Tae Ri’s most innovative and expressive role yet. And it’s clear to me now what she’s been going for all along aren’t good scripts, but challenging roles to take her own acting range another step further. Even her weakest work steps all over 95% of the industry, and that’s no exaggeration. She has been my favorite actress in this drama land since I’ve first came across her, and she’s only reaffirmed my obsession with her work and talented eye for scripts here. If you feel even remotely similar about her, you will enjoy every last bit of this drama as i have, minus the rant after, likely.
Jeongnyeon is a successful, aspiring drama that failed as an adaption. Have i read the original webtoon yet? Not a single word. But i know a cut and rushed mess when i see it, as I’ve seen too many at this point. Want to know what else I’m aware of ? My opinion being the minority , as well as my genuine enjoyment throughout watching this series. I can go longer than this run on sentence about this embarrassment of an adaption as much as i can rave about how even Kim’s worst work is better than your fave’s best and you’d be doing yourself the disservice by not trying this title out as any fan of Kim Tae Ri or even Shin Ye Eun.
I applaud the effort of the impressive cast and remarkable production. Our star has yet to dim, it’s just another was born.
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1An objectively bad guilty pleasure drama that’s perfect for a cosy weekend watch
I'm perfectly well aware of the fact that I've given this show a much higher rating than it deserves. However, as it happens sometimes, this is one of those reviews that are based solely on personal enjoyment rather than merit.You see, K2 is like this beautiful vase; it has intricately exotic designs on the outside but its inside is completely hollow and littered with cobwebs. Now, it's up to you whether you want to put it on a shelf and admire its surface beauty or you want to break it into a billion pieces and consequently end up being utterly disappointed by its stark reality. If you're a person who can momentarily cast aside rationale in the face of glitz and glamour, K2 and you would get along just fine but the moment you stop, tilt your head to the side and think; "wait a minute" all possibilities of friendship are out the door.
K2 is almost reckless in its execution, as if it reached a point where logic just didn't matter anymore. It took blatantly unrealistic happenings, a gigantic cluster of plotholes and downright ridiculous notions and attempted to create a story out of them. It's almost like the creators are poking fun at the audience as if they were idiots blanketed in foolish naivete. Events transpire without any build up, there is little to no attention to detail and honestly, it's a huge fast-paced mess.
This drama is like an arrogant brat who does whatever the fuck it wants, confident that it would be successful, still.
A woman in Iraq who's completely covered in a gown and headscarf at all times, without any second thought decides to cast aside her veil and liplock with her hero just because he suggested they should marry. The same woman is somehow extremely fluent in Korean language (even though she has lived all her life in Iraq) and Korean pop culture (even though she's in the middle of nowhere) and conveniently is killed to produce a motive for our male lead to enter the action.
A girl who's had extreme Sociophobia all her life, is suddenly very confidently striking poses with groups of people in the next second. A man who essentially hates power hungry murderers is shown to sympathize with a woman who is exactly that, if not more. There are so many handy plot devices just waiting to pop out from all sides at the very last moment in order to somehow save and prolong the show and it's all quite satirical.
But ofcourse, the smartarse that K2 is; it's completely in the know of all of its flaws and has the audacity to give justifications. The woman could speak Korean so well because she had been taught to be a translator. The girl never had Sociophobia, she just pretended because she didn't want to interact with people. The man didn't feel anything for the murderer, nope, that was just means to an end. And so, K2 commits many crimes and yet, makes sure to cover all the evidence.
The flow of the story, with all of its nonsensical and out of the blue events, is stroppy at best. Many things are left unanswered and this is the kind of production that will have you shake your head with amused exasperation at every second of its antics.
However, despite all this, for me this was a classic case of "it's so bad that it's good" and I somehow ended up thoroughly enjoying myself.
Jee Chang Wook has proved his excellent acting skills numerous of times and here too, he delivered impeccably. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't given much substance to deliver in the first place. His character is unbelievably overpowered, able to survive situations where even a super human ninja would've been obliterated. He has a butter heart, a hero complex and is very motivated to save the world one distressed damsel at a time. Combine that with JCW's natural mixture of masculinity and boyish arrogance and you get a specimen that is too good to be true. And when things are too good to be true, they mostly take a turn for the worse.
It's painfully obvious that the show is highly monetizing on his looks and name; for most of the show is him being either shirtless, flaunting his abs or doing something similarly badass to establish his "coolness". So if you're here to judge JCW's acting this is the last drama you should go to.
As far as I am concerned though, I really didn't care either way. For me, simply watching him is a pleasure, he's my ultimate bias killer and hey, if the producers want to shove mindless fanservice (involving him) down my throat, I ain't complaining.
Yoona turned out to be a pleasant surprise. She's built to play the helpless heroine who always needs saving, who trusts way too easily, cries even easier and basically creates hindrances for everyone around her. The show really tried to suppress her in every possibly way, they didn't give her character a single moment to shine and did everything they could to make her appear helpless and pathetic. However, somehow Yoona managed to turn the tables. Instead of pity, Anna garners sympathy and I would be lying if I said I wasn't rooting for her. There's an intelligence in her eyes that no matter how much of a putz she was portrayed to be, she still succeeded in speaking with the viewers and maintaining a likable character throughout.
And now comes Song Yoon ah- the heart and soul of the show. What an absolutely brilliant actress. She's one of the best k-drama antagonists; utterly ruthless and cruel and yet harboring deep vulnerabilities. She's a viciously dangerous woman and yet, pitiful at times. She's the most layered character of the show and even though she insists upon it, it's almost impossible to truly hate her.
As far as the romance is concerned, even though it's rushed and underdeveloped, there's no denying that Ji- Chang Wook can create chemistry with a garbage bag, if you let him. And if I'm being completely honest, I enjoyed the lovey dovey bits to the fullest. (Aww-ing and Ooh-ing was involved.)
So finally the question arises: If K2 on the whole, has so many shortcomings, why give it an 8.5 rating? Well, in answer to that I'll say, that I just had too much fun watching it. Plain and simple. For me, it was unadulterated amusement- sometimes at its ridiculousness and sometimes at its unabashed negligence. I anticipated every episode and was fully immersed from start to finish.
The K2 is like greasy junk food, you know it can't possibly amount to anything good but you still can't help devouring. With brilliant action scenes, beautiful visuals, entrancing music and a gorgeous cast that actually knows how to act, it is the perfect cheat meal.
Hate it or love it, you'd still end up watching it to the last episode and as far as the drama is concerned- that's a mission well accomplished.
A delectable guilty pleasure, so why not indulge?
Enjoy!
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Typical Contemporary Romance Cdrama
Modern romance drama that revolves around the love story between Chu Li, an aspiring editor, and Zhou Chuan, a highly successful debut author. This was a drama that I had looked forward to ever since they announced the lead pair. I had enjoyed watching Ding Yuxi's "Romance of Tiger and Rose" and really liked Esther Yu in "Find Yourself".However, what started as a solid 9/10 drama, slowly devolved to 6/10 for me. Mainly because of how absurd the ML's behaviour was. I tolerated his antics in the beginning because I thought he would change for the better as the drama progressed. But, 30 episodes in, he still behaves like a child instead of the 27-year-old adult he's supposed to be. At the beginning of the drama, he treats the FL as his own personal assistant, even his housemaid at times, and no one seems to even point out how wrong this is to the person himself although certain characters do remark upon it. Later, after the leads get together, he continues to demand the FL's attention knowing fully well that she's busy at her job and not ignoring him on purpose. I get that in dramaland this behaviour can pass off as cute but imagine if this happened in real life?
Other than that, my only complaint is that nothing really happens in the drama. This would have been a much better-paced drama if it had been 24 episodes. Instead, we have to wait for more than half the drama, around 18 episodes just for the leads to get together. The drama had nothing new to offer, except for maybe the glimpse into behind the scenes workings of the publishing industry.
Nevertheless, I liked our FL and almost all of the female characters. Their story arcs were much better written, believable and relatable. Chu Li was determined and stood her ground despite how harsh her workplace was to her. Even though I wish we could see Esther Yu in a more serious and not-so-typical role, she played the bubbly and unintentionally funny FL to a tee.
I may be overreacting here, but I'm just really tired of the unreasonable MLs. If you like slow-paced, slice-of-life-ish romances or if you are relatively new to modern cdrama rom-coms then this drama might be for you.
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The Biggest Waste of My Time
This was probably one of the worst BLs I have ever seen. It has a typical fanfiction soulmate plotline, where the two leads meet each other's eyes and immediately realize they are meant to be. The plot itself seemed intriguing. I think they could have gone pretty far with this plot, but their execution was awful.The main character clearly has some trauma regarding his mother going missing and he vows to never follow his probe. The part I didn't like, however, was the utter lack of explanation on his trauma. What was the point of it being there and clearly having an effect on his perspective when they won't even explain it or go into the tiniest bit of detail? All we know is that the mother disappeared and the kid couldn't remember the color of her headband.
On top of that, the show moves SO SLOWLY and it's only 8 episodes. But then at the end, all of a sudden they throw a bunch of content in that doesn't make any sense. I thought their chemistry would build and it would be fine at the end, but I was very wrong. The actors had no chemistry on screen and they were so beyond stiff. Their kiss at the end was downright painful. Don't even get me started on the acting. The flat, monotonous tone of the second lead was SO painful I can't even put it into words.
Maybe I'm just too critical and I'm being mean, but after watching a bunch of other BLs, even these short ones, this seriously did not compete. The execution of the plot is half assed, the characters are poorly developed, the acting is complete and utter shit, but at least the music is nice. Would I recommend this show? Absolutely not. If you would like, I can give you some wonderful recommendations for other BLs.
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STORYLINE VERY GOOD , VERY RECOMMENDED.
Sang Zhi falls in love with Duan Jia Xu, a boy who often comes to her house to play games in his older brother's room. He is five years older than her. Sang Zhi had a crush on Duan Jia Xu when she was young, but they lost contact with each other for some reason. After he graduated, he joined the university in the city where he was, and during their intimate and close daily interactions, they slowly fell in love.Really support this drama chinese , the story line is never boring watching in every episode ❤️❤️ This the first drama me very recommended for you all.The chemistry between actors chen zhe yuan & zhao lu si is very good.
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Although it would be unfair to compare it to TMOPB, it just doesn't compare. The lore in this version isn't so big or exciting. It is only worth checking out if you like the leads or love stories in general. The overall cast in the 1st part was clearly superior and I found myself somehow missing Zhang Bin Bin the most lol.
PLOT:
It's cute but it gets frustrating seeing the female - Fengjiu being hopelessly in love with Dong Hua. I was prepared to go in for some real heartbreak as I knew DH is a sort of cold person. But man, I did feel so bad for Fengjiu who got her heart broken so many times within the first 10 episodes. It seems largely due to her playful but naive self but it does make you pity her. The mortal realm was surprisingly lighter compared to other xianxia dramas. When they got back to heaven all was fine except the Dream of Aranya sequence. I had to do FF after ep 36ish. The ending was better than expected because at least we got back the main leads back in one piece and the 'separation' didn't last long.
CHARACTERS:
Fengjiu's character growth is what made watching it worthwhile. She's awfully immature in the beginning but beomes much better later on. Dong Hua was also pissing me off for a while - there's only so many smirks one can win me over with. Neither of them seem as badass as Bai Qian or Ye Hua nor they did they have the same chemistry. But overall it was pleasant to watch. I feel like this story was more on the redemption of Di Jun/Dong Hua because I wanted to sit and see him suffer some as well. I feel like in the last installment and this one, it was majorly Fengjiu having to suffer and prove everything. When it comes to the baddies, they all fell flat to me. I didn't even like any of their acting. I'd have to rate it meh in that department.
ACTING:
Oh BOY this is where this drama lacks A LOT. Neither Dilraba nor Vengo were excellent. Dilraba was good because her character was basic and didn't have to have Oscar-level acting. I'd rate Vengo lower because he had this awesome character to play but it fell flat. I did like his "ice face" and "romance face" but I was just not feeling it with the sad parts. I didn't think this role was totally cut out for someone of his level of acting. I would say he is charming at best because, come on - there is only one Dong Hua in this world! But there could have been someone better at acting. (I am treading into dangerous category here and must be offending a few fans)
OVERALL:
I was guaranteed sugary sweetness which I got but I wanted more. The plot was ok, acting was ok and the overall experience was ok. I don't think I ever lost sleep over this as I recall being obsessed over other C-dramas that I have watched. I have seem some people say that this drama wasn't required at all. I could somewhat agree but then I never would have seen the growth of the two leads nor the redemption of Dong Hua (yes, I am calling that because he always seemed cold to me in TMOPB and the initial 10 eps of this drama). I also watched because of Dilraba - I love her and she is very cute and gorgeous at the same time.
Take your pick - watch it or skip it. I can't find many reasons to do either.
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Light And Sugary Sweet, But Will It Truly ” Touch” Your Heart.?
There are probably three main factors which will drive watchers to picking up this drama.Let’s not kid ourselves, though. The majority of watchers will probably be drawn to this series for our main costars Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na performing again as starred-crossed lovers after their renowned onscreen chemistry in the hit-drama Goblin; The Great And Lonely And Great God (2016-17).
However, here’s the biggest question that anyone watching this drama and looking through a series of often biased verdicts by watchers praising it with “10/10”; is it actually worth watching ?
Perhaps the most important thing to summarise about ” Touch Your Heart" is that the majority of the show is an easy-going, romantic comedy.The drama follows actress Oh Yeon Seo (Yoo In Na) who had rose to fame because of her enthralling innocent look, which made her the crème de la crème of commercial films or advertisements in South-Korea. However despite desperately yearning to be taken seriously as an A-list actress, she was widely critiqued for her bad acting.
Unfortunately, she got caught in a drug scandal with a big business tycoon, which damaged her career and forced her to off the grid. Two years later, Yeon Seo’s reputation and name is still being dragged in the mud by the controversy with no solid acting offers or contracts, but she continued to lift her head up high. Then one day, she discovers a drama script for another actress in their agency, and becomes infatuated with the premise, fantasying about taking up the role as a lawyer. Convincing the screenwriter to cast her despite initial rejection , the writer finally acquiesces under one condition ; Yeon Seo has to prepare for the role by working in a law-related job for three months. This is easier said than done, however, when Yeon Seo starts off on the wrong foot with the seemingly stoic and straightforward top lawyer at the company, Jung Rok ( Lee Dong Wook). Yet as Yeon Seo and Jung Rok begin to bicker and run into predicaments, both main leads soon find their hearts being melted by one another’s love...
A concept such as ” Touch Your Heart" can easily grow tiresome by the archetypical characters and cliches because it is not entirely unique in itself. Admittedly, this became evident at times within the show becoming enthralled with its own treasure trove of cliches, however, its wrong to entirely dismiss that there was nothing inherently enjoyable about the formula either. The majority of characters ( including secondary ones ) were enjoyable and although they often took time to grow close towards, they had time to sometimes grow outside of the more evident labels enforced in the beginning of the show.
The main female lead Yeon Seo did seem to ring warning bells initially of going down the " ditsy goddess” trope early on in the drama. Whilst Yeon Seo could often be prescribed to the previous trope at times , she was often a loveable character by her genuineness, intellect , resilience and Yoo In Na’s added charm. Lee Dong Wook’s chosen role as Jung Rok may rise eyebrows by his straight-laced role again as the ” stern and abrasive male lead ” ( similar to Goblin), however, Dong Wook seemed to be able to capture Jung Rok’s journey out his shell and development as an individual with emotions and feelings, especially regarding his relationship with Yeon Seo.
Perhaps the one refreshing element of their bond came through defying unhealthy tropes . Yes, there relationship was cliche-ridden by being founded upon the ” opposites attract” and ” rivals to lovers" archetypes , but as their relationship developed, it became apparent that they were able to grow out of the shadows of falling into the territories of ” romanticised” emotional abuse and gaslighting. The couple soon began to grow on mutual respect as they were able to smooth-out misunderstandings by Jung Rok’s brusqueness and Yoon Seo’s emotional honesty .
Even our secondary couple consisting of Lawyer Choi Yoon Hyuk (Shim Hyung Tak) and Lawyer Dan Moon Hee (Park Kyung Hye)was oddly entertaining. Their pairing could could have easily blown into being poorly-sketched and tiresome by the cliches of their stereotypical contractual relationship and full-on personalities , however, beyond the stereotypes of being one another’s ” adversaries ", Yoon Hyuk being a " spoilt mama’s boy" and Moon Hee falling for her looks, they did have some genuine heartfelt moments which helped to fortify the characters as individuals.
On one critical note, whilst the storyline revolving around the prosecutors Jung Rok’s close friend and roommate Kim Se Won (Lee Sang Woo) and Yoo Yeo Reum (Song Sung Yoon was necessary to some extent for plot development , their associated storyline did drag on due to an overexposure with screen time . The friendship dynamic between Se Won and Jung Rok of course was heartwarming in parts, however, having intrigue around Se Won and Yeo Rum as individuals was minimal due to lacking development and an overuse of cliches dragging these characters( in some circumstances)as dull plot mechanisms.
Overall, ” Touch Your Heart" is an entertaining drama- formulaic in parts, with a sprinkle of angst but mostly topped with a lighthearted viewing experience for watchers to help take your mind off heavier subject areas. The cast undeniably were brilliant for the most part ( although though there were some questionable line deliverances) by helping to bring the characters to life. Even the easygoing OST helped to warm up scenes and add a spark to Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na’s fairly good acting behind an enjoyable and heartfelt romance onscreen. If you’re a fan of cute and fluffy romantic comedies with a touch of humanity, or you desire to see new life being breathed into certain old cliches, then ” Touch Your Heart" is certainly for you.
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There is only one good, interesting thing in this show, listed below.
--- STORY --- 4/10 ... It had great potential. A scholarly vampire on a mission, searching for a lost diary containing the secret to kill the evil vampire Gui, who rules the palace...... Sounds interesting, too bad it wasn't.
--- WRITING --- 3/10 ... The worst writing, one of the most illogical plots, where things often did not make sense.
The script is boring, lots of talk as filler, didn't provide insight, or knowledge, or add interest or intrigue...
- Poorly written Characters - the vampire scholar was too simple, full of self-pity and self-loathing, no complexity (despite the obvious potential) ...
- The lead female is written to be smart, clever, strong, a woman raised as man. Her actions and decisions were not only stupid, but usually nonsensical and caused trouble for the other characters by her simplicity and stubbornness. One of the dumbest most annoying characters I have encountered!
- Evil vampire Gui started as stereotypical, but ended up being a bit complex and interesting... Best character, along w/ his muse. ....
--- ACTING/CAST --- 4/10 ... Mostly bad.
- Lee Jun Ki - not at his best, but with an awful script and worse partner, I'm sure inspiration was lacking.
- Lead actress --- I don't even want to know her name... she's the worst part of this show... From her first appearance on screen, it was obvious... dressed as a man, but pitter-patter steps, swinging her arms, wriggling her hips, clenching the man's robe in fear, etc... Her mannerisms were more feminine than a "flaming drag-queen" (a gay man dressed as a woman).... combine it w/ her character's stupid actions... Then
--->>> How in the world can I believe any man can fall for her charms (in this case, her lack of charms)???
- Lee Soo Hyuk is good enough ... best part of this show.... sexy.
--- DIRECTOR --- 4/10 ... probably to blame for how bad it is ... He allowed the lead actress' acting instead of guiding her ... very draggy, too much filler ... bad editing... way too many things that didn't make sense.
--- BRIGHT SPOT --- the relationship b/w evil Gui and the girl he trains is the most interesting, and both were the most interesting characters...and had good chemistry.
--->>> I especially liked her ... a complex character ... She was smart, clever, brave... a victim but didn't have self-pity ... strong to fight for what she wants ... and she really understood Gui and how to manipulate him ... Very pretty.
--- WORST PART --- illogical plot and zero chemistry of leads ... and a female lead that is utterly unbelievable as being in any way attractive.
--- MUSIC --- 4/10 ... music did not add anything, and at times was inappropriate ... there is one song that is good, but didn't always fit the scenes.
--- REWATCH --- 0/10 ... Only if you need an excuse to shoot yourself.
.
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Binge it if you can
I’ve never read the webtoon so this is based off this show as a standalone drama and not as an adaptation. I started watching this 4 episodes were out because I saw that hair-tying scene on my Twitter/X timeline and it completely convinced me. And the show proved me right — I binged all the released and couldn’t wait for next week. The main leads had amazing chemistry, the antagonists felt like actual threats, and I couldn’t wait to see how the revenge would play out.As the weeks came around, I still enjoyed the episodes, but I did feel like the show started losing steam.
First, the main leads’ screentime dwindled and we got more and more scenes of our antagonists (of which there were many). It added good tension to see things from their perspective, but it also added frustration. The leads had so much chemistry and tension and we only got to see a few minutes of that every week.
And as more episodes went on, we ran into a different issue: we did get screentime for our leads, but it didn’t necessarily feel like they were progressing. We’d get the same hugs and conversations where they talked about being there for each other and fighting together against the bad guys. These scenes were cute but it felt got sort of repetitive, especially now that we’d gotten all the tension-filled conversations out of the way earlier and it seemed like the next plot development wasn’t happening anytime soon. I still really enjoyed scenes where they cared for each other, but all the stakes felt a little lower by this point, and I started to feel like the revenge was almost too easy. Sides had been chosen, secrets were already revealed, and most importantly, the main antagonists had stayed quiet or had lost too many battles in a row.
Honestly, I was pretty lukewarm on the entire plot by then. Looking back, I don’t remember a singular satisfying moment where our main female lead got to face off against her mother in a moment where I felt like they were on equal footing, where the stakes were high and I truly didn’t know who was going to win. The revenge plot seemed to delve into smaller moments where they would address this one thing first and then that other thing, and I wasn’t sure there was a climax. Even the build-up to some other reveals and to the ML’s perspective felt overdue and a little underwhelming.
Episode 11 was a turning point. Things that needed to be revealed had been revealed, it felt like the revenge had been finished, and the antagonists had been out of the picture — most of which was off-screen, I might add, which made the story feel somewhat incomplete — long enough for The Time Jump to happen. Yes, the dreaded time jump. I’ve never been a fan of the time jump. It’s fine as an epilogue but I’ve never once enjoyed it done in the middle of the story and this was no different. It just felt kind of…weird. Like they didn’t know what to do after all the villains were put away, so they had to bring them back, but had to wait some time for them to be able to. Story-wise, it was a bit confusing to have it happen after everything was seemingly over, but ultimately I don’t think it was blown out of proportion, which was good.
I think part of the plot simmering down also had to do with the female lead, who was really proactive in the first half and then started being more aimless in the second half. Still, I liked the message the drama left us with — that the best revenge for her was having a happy marriage, a healthy family, and a good life. Despite the slowdown, I think this drama had a really good finale episode.
Overall, it was still a pretty good watch — this was my second favorite watch behind Castaway Diva during its runtime, but if I were to recommend it to someone I would suggest binging it rather than watching it slowly. You might be able to retain more momentum that way.
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This review may contain spoilers
It was exciting in the start but fizzes out towards the end.
This is not my first k- dating show (my fav is His Man 2 till date) and by far what I have seen it is all about glamourous people dating with a lot of physical appeal. Here it was different. A bunch of normal people who went exploring dating for the first time in their life. The concept of this show is very fresh and tried to encompass real emotions of people, for the concept it deserved 10/10.The problem was how the show became Jeongmok saga. Bro carried the entire show on his back. It was about his love story from top to bottom. The other contestants contributed very less.
**Spoiler**
His love angle with Ji-yeon was very very random. They went from 0 interaction onscreen to 100 % commitment where they want to marry each other. It felt scripted to me. I mean for once i can accept Jeong mok having feelings for Ji yeon but how did she started feeling for him?! Until last episodes she was pinning for Jaeyun and how she liked quiet boys. I am okay even if it was a script but atleast it should make some sense. Either the editing of that loveline was bad or the production team had no solid content of their developing feelings that they legit flashbacked only one scene of them- JY got hurt --> JM did first aid... that too thousands of time. How can you expect me to buy this huh?
Jisu- SeungLi was interesting till it became bland. Bro had 0 interest in knowing her. Its a dating show so i cant expect real conversations but atleast have some talk beyond who was your first choice. "You can pour out your emotions to people and it can mean nothing to them." Had it been real life i would have rooted Jisu to find someone better. And the concept of the show was to date why did they not go to the overnight trip?! That was quite a waste. You say you like someone then obviously you would want to spend time with them alone but here it was opposite.
Rest of the people were quite forgettable. I didn't understand why Minhong and Yeonmeung were pinning over JM. Their screentime was just filled with them bitching about JM. Also I am quite angry with how they handle newbies. They removed their screentime completely to the extent no one knows who they liked. Amongst guys I liked Jaeyun storyline but it was limited.
**End of Spoiler**
All in all it was a bland show where you can skip ep 9 & 10 altogether. I hope they plan a bit better next time. The conversations between the cast were limited to who was their first choice. Please for once have some discussion beyond that the next time.
The people were kind and good no doubt but they have to speak and act for the show. It's shameful that the production planned 3 overnight stays and only 1 couple went.
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By far the weakest arc!
This had so much potential, but as usual with thai shows, they just botched it. This arc had it especially not easy, because it was the last, but we saw so much of it in Part 1. When you know you will film all arcs of the novel, you should have started with THIS arc. Why? Because it starts at highschool and then fades into university. So the first 5 episodes don't belong into Part 2, they should have been in Part 1 at the beginning. Yes we would have been left hanging but it would have made much more sense.Instead we get a time jump of three years in this arc which feels strange. And it just happens by accident that Mr. Mafia Boy confesses and that at the end of episode 6. They had the mafia subplot and Mr. Mafia boy did kill someone - no consequences - because it's Mafia I suppose. His then not boyfriend did not ask and Mr. Mafia Boy did not explain. Also no real explaination what the family really did, besides having a 08/15 cartoonish evil dad who had the decency to die without fuzz before causing more problems. As usual we have a not really gay but gay brother who is the same as Mr. Mafia Boy and then we have even one more couple which has not much screen time at all and they should have because the main story dragged on for too long.
They could have done something more with the mafia arc, but no. I have no clue if the novel is more exciting but this was not it. The order was wrong, the interactions with North & Johann are too short, Easter and Hill were not seen at all.
So for a standalone it was ok, but for the big picture of both season this arc did not work well. The actors were good for the most parts, the production was on a high level but the story is missing the kick to make it exciting.
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I have watched 3 times of the kor version and still so much in love with the love story part :P
Story:
same as the synopsis and same as the kor version just a little shortening of the drama and history part, that's all.
oh and there are added leads for the c-version.
heard that this story was bought over and remake in C-version but with a Korean director and team firming.... (read from the internet somewhr)
Cast:
The Cast was ok... tik the female lead acting improved bah but I tik the male lead was quite a looker and will succeed in other drama soon :P
The side leads was good and the story is easy to follow with the historical plot defer from the kor version but still, its easy to unstand and follow on the drama
Music:
was ok - nothing special caught my ears ....
Rewatch Value:
maybe some scenes that you want to see the lovey dovey of the relationship. ^.^
Watch if you like :-
:- Queen in Hyun's man
:- a romance story
:- historical love travel times
its rather short drama so u can surely watch it over the weekend or so. Cheers!
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