Season 2 takes us through the lives of residents in a Sejong villa away from the hustle and bustle of Seoul. So long story short, in thematic terms it utilizes the same elements from the first season - urban alienation and loneliness, the dangers faced by single women living all on their own, and the way food brings people closer together and forges relationships between the lonely and the lovelorn. But really, what makes Let's Eat 2 much more special is the relationship between the male and female leads. Because nowhere else in the broad spectrum of Kdramas have I seen such an authentic portrayal of friendship between a man and a woman. (Not even in 9 End 7 Outs was the friendship between Su Ae and Lee Jung Jin so wonderfully depicted)
Fat-shaming of women is another important issue which the writer has handled as realistically as possible without becoming overtly preachy about it. I was relieved to see Soo Ji coming to terms with her low self-esteem issues which eventually allowed her to see Dae Young and her own relationship in its true light.
Also that particular bit where Dae Young makes the grand declaration that Soo Ji is a kind and fun and pretty woman who deserves to be loved probably remains one of my favorite indirect confession scenes in all Kdrama history. Way to make a woman swoon and move her emotionally, Dae Young!
In terms of acting, Yoon Doo Joon did extremely well as the somewhat smarmy, somewhat sneaky and sharp but adorable and kind Dae Young. And Seo Hyun Jin brought Baek Soo Ji's earnestness and her naivete to life like nobody's business. Nowhere in the drama did her hysterics or anger seem out of place or unwarranted. The side characters' stories were a bit underplayed in this instalment but the fantastic chemistry between the leads made up for everything else. In fact I wouldn't mind watching this one again. My only complaint is that the angst was kind of drawn out in the last 5-6 episodes. DY and SJ could have gotten together much earlier and we would have been blessed with a few more romantic/cute scenes.
So those who are still hesitant about watching this because there's no Lee Soo Kyung here, no need to worry. Because romance and friendship-wise, this drama serves up a much more delicious offering than its predecessor.
Now for a season 3. Make it happen producers!
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This is how the real world works plus a few fate tricks
It's not everyone's cup of tea for sure, since the lead couple are not ordinary and certainly not young, but they are among the most realistic couples i have seen in Kdramas.Story:
Star math teacher. Heartthrob, rich, whatever you name it, he has it. There are dark secrets lurking around. there is also tragedy but filled with many good moments. On the other hand, we have a very troubled family with a secret of their own. not to mention the hardships and happiness shown are meant to depict a more realistic feature of life. Students' pressure in life. A world where justice has no say in it and the hierarchy of relationships. This is how real world is.
Not many loopholes and certainly everything wraps up perfectly. The story at its core is flawless, except for a few short mishaps.
Acting:
First time seeing the leads. They are mature in both acting and delivering a decent character. The chemistry is off the charts. silly at times, but beautiful. Wish they had more interactions as a couple, but this drama is more heavily focused on the story revolving around students.
production:
top-notch. The locations used for shooting and even the items of clothing worn by the cast is chosen with dedication and care. It's not just some low-budget drama. everything is on point.
soundtrack:
Beautiful songs are used throughout the drama. totally matched the mood.
Overall, if you like the Genre of teaching, students, family, and a mature romance, this is for you!
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A surprisingly interesting watch
I had pretty low expectations (like one normally does for short cdramas) but this was surprisingly more than just excessive steamy scenes and hot actors.PROS:
1. I absolutely love their relationship dynamic: I love how he is always by her side supporting her decisions and how he is always willing to hear her out when she has suggestions. He also never broadcasts his actions when he helps her out.
2. FL representation: Most of these dramas paint the FL as an innocent submissive doe-eyed young girl who eventually submits to the ML but here they have made her a pretty strong and self-reliant individual who is not afraid to express her thoughts. they also managed to achieve a delicate balance in making her both a smart, strong and bold person while also maintaining her gentle and innocent nature (usually FLs who are strong are also quite obnoxious)
3. Business: The plot actually made sense for once and I love how the ML is not a rich billionaire CEO but rather a humble and hardworking man (I also think that the ML's actor is more suited to these roles than the hotshot CEO roles)
4. Relationship progress: I'm glad that they both take things slow and don't jump into anything, they start of as strangers with a small attraction for each other and they take things slow and explore each other's personality more before committing themselves to the relationship.
5. Fl's Background: honestly i think it was unnecessary to make her a rich heiress but it ok since it doesnt really play a major role in the plot.
6. Maturity: This show has some of the most mature leads that even some full length high budget shows lack and I think it was very well executed.
7. Great OSTS
8. Great visuals
CONS:
1. Should have been a full length show: This def. deserved a higher budget and length because almost everything about it was perfect, it wasn't your classic soap opera and the side plots were engaging enough to keep me hooked towards the end.
2. I wish there was a bit more romance
All in all this was a pretty good show and I'm glad I watched it. If you are expecting something hot and steamy you will be disappointed but it was pretty good considering my past experience of nonsensical plots.
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Mansuang Comes Out With a Bang!
One of the movie I looked forward to in 2023 and they delivered every part of the movie well. From amazing production to beautiful cinematography, everything in this movie was beautiful. When it comes to reviewing Mansuang, one of the most important thing to highlight is that every single actor, from main actors to side actors played their role incredibly well. The acting is a 10/10 without any hesitation. One thing that could be improved is that they should release the uncut version as it was reduced from 3 hours to 2 hours. Although the storyline was not impacted by this, it would be great if we can dive deeper into every scene. Overall, an amazing film to watch!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Babe Went Full Savage
Listen. I'm not a sad person who hates happiness, but like, I hate happiness on Charlie, cuz dude was happy all the time. Ain't nobody that happy all the time. Also was he laughing or crying??? Could never tell the difference. And was Charlie necessary for this story? Did he need to be in the drama? Sure, he stole some power Babe wasn't even using and he faked his death one time, but like... he was just there!And what was the point of their powers? Seemed like they disappeared when they need them the most. I was like, okay good for you Babe, you can catch stuff flying towards your head, and?? I see something aiming for my head, I dodge, you are not special.
Anyway, before we start, I'd like to give Pavel his flowers. He was such a good actor in this, made everyone else look like they were being paid to act like trees.
Now to the review.
1) Nothing, and I mean nothing will get me to dislike 'Way'. I love that Mfer sooo much. Like, the moment he popped up on screen, I went, who's that? that one right there, WHO IS THAT.?? I don't know, must be Nut's aura or something, because nothing he did made me annoyed. And everything, and I mean, everything, annoys me.
2) Pavel's tattoo. Full savage indeed.
3) Charlie... well, I mean, he was in the drama. After we learnt of the reason he came into Pitbabe's life, I was like, sure, good for you, you power stealing, death faker, glasses wearing air-breather.
PLOT
Interesting storyline, but if it wasn't for tiktok comments and videos, wouldn't understand half of it. It was all over the place, and the only thing that kept me watching was Pavel's acting and Nut's face. And what was the point of that korean transfer racer person? Was his whole storyline to be kidnap and show us Charlie's noodle arms could hold its own in a boxing? Dude could have been replaced by one of those racing cars and I wouldn't even have noticed. Alan and Jeff's story was nice too. Tony should have suffered in a pit on Mars, or under a mountain, either would have been awesome. Way deserved so much better, deciding to go in the direction they did with him was not it.
And I refuse to talk about the Mama, Papa thing. Mfers out there trying to make me vomit up my lunch!
CHARACTERS:
Loved: Pitbabe and Way
Liked: Jeff, Alan, and that boss person who sponsored them? forget his name. I could look it up while typing this but... nah too much work.
Tolerated: Charlie. Like I said, dude was in the drama, circling around Babe, it was hard not to notice him. He was there!! Smiling.... all the time. Though, I did like that we finally had a top who wasn't the traditional good at everything, cool, arrogant and non-chalant.
Tony: Oh man, dude did all that! All that, and he just up and die. ARGGGGG.
Kenta, oh boy. What a shoe licker. Where to begin. Dude was such a bummer. Like a train crash you can't look away from. I wanted to hug and slap him at the same time. Towards the end, I legit did not care whether he lived or die.
POWERS:
Way supposedly can manipulate people into doing whatever he wants, and he waited all those years to get Babe? And ALAN'S POWERS. Talk about if useless was a person. Dude got the gift of foresight and he did nothing, nothing with it!!
ACTING.
Pavel left everyone in the dust. Pooh was there... smiling and wearing glasses. I guess. that's something. Nut, well, like I said must be his aura, can't find anything wrong to say about him. Everything he did was top notch, bestest boy. Some of the actors were decent as well.
OVERALL:
A decent watch, wasn't the greatest, but I can see a lot of people really loving it. This could have easily been a 5 star thing, but then they off'ed Way and that was when I drew the line. Overall, watch it, if not for anything for Pavel's acting.
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Did not live up to the hype
The whole production was amazing- cinematography, ost, scoring, production design, etc. BUT the love line really did not make sense to me. It felt too pushed for fans’ sake. The writing on the second lead’s ending was too lackluster, it’s like the writer gave up on the character to save Yeo Jin Goo some face, as obviously he got overshadowed by Lee Do Hyeon as a character and as an actor (c’mon, let’s all agree on that).Plus this drama’s ghost stories as fillers were too obvious as fillers. It’s like watching a variety show with an MC introducing the fillers one by one because it’s THAT obvious. It took a lot of screentime too that you’d eventually realize that the main plot was actually very short and so-so if you take out all the ghost stories.
If you came for the hype, then by all means watch it. The cinematography was definitely astounding. Its novelty was also commendable, I truly learned a lot about Korean folklore, thanks to the characters. BUT don’t expect it to watch a Best Drama contender for Baeksang because that’s definitely not what you’ll get, unlike what the rating promises. Acting was so-so too, a bit disappointing actually since you have Yeo Jin Goo and IU as the main leads. Lee Do Hyeon stole the show.
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Strong Start, Beautiful Production, Terrible Pacing and Mediocre Performances
As a long-time Yang Mi fan I was so disappointed, I feel like the best scenes we got from her was the archery and battle moments in the earlier half. The romance and longing plotline was basically all in her mind til halfway through, the performances were ok, not bad, but not their best at all. William Chan's flat hair was annoying at first but you get used to it and he goes back and forth between the bun hairdo and the longer one with the 2 side pieces. He's attractive, but it really diminished his beauty in some scenes. The music isn't the worst but after watching all the eps it barely registers in my brain and is not a stand out for sure. I feel like it's overrated because there's a lack of high budget costume dramas released this year, and after next year when a lot better ones air people will go back and be like yeah this is over rated, but I get how people are overly generous on this platform. I thought by far the 2nd couple's story was the most interesting, mainly just the Emperor's character. He's so interesting and intense, plus has the biggest character developmentNot the worst drama but not the best. Am I harsh because I am a long time Cdrama viewer and now don't have the patience to sit through and enjoy dramas as I once did when I was newer and doe eyed? Sure, but even objectively this drama is a 7 at BEST. There's highs and lows, but in a couple of months I probably won't think twice about this drama, and any drama that I don't think about after it finishes is a BIG MEH to me. If you have nothing else to watch then by all means watch it, but don't go in with high expectations
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WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE DRAMA: The casts of course! Well, I won't really rate the actors and actresses a very high score because they don't really show their acting potential through the drama. But I was totally attracted by the male lead's smile throughout the show, as well as his personality. I don't think I will ever seen a guy like that in real life! I will definitely give a high rating for the plot. The story was really nicely plotted with no draggy parts (well maybe one or two episodes in between) and how they actually not go off the way like other dramas. Overall, it is really a drama that can make people smile all the time without any frustrations. (:
WHAT I DISLIKE ABOUT THE DRAMA: However, I was slightly disappointed with the ending even though it was a very happy one. I mean, they can show more progress between the two leads or maybe the relationship between Kaiqi and Ah Jie's family or even with Xiao Yi (haven't been seeing him for quite a few episodes though!).
In conclusion, it is one of the top recent dramas that is really worth watching, as Taiwan dramas nowadays are really getting boring or draggy with no new story plots. (: And and and, if you really want to watch a drama with cute male lead with an attractive smile with dimples. ;D
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This review may contain spoilers
This is the first c-drama that I have watched... and I'm not here for it.I'm a big fan of school dramas, but this one disappointed me A LOT. If you haven't finished it yet then stop reading because I'll get spoiler-y.
*I couldn't connect with a single character.
Main male (Jiang Chen): annoying, cold as fuck, terrible, i-don't-even-understand-how-girls-can-fall-for-him, pretty outside but shallow inside, etc.
Main female (Xiaoxi): silly, easy to manipulate, insecure about what she really wants. I actually feel pity for her sometimes, but then she does a stupid thing and I don't feel pity anymore.
Second male (Bosong(?)): had good intentions but was too annoying sometimes. She doesn't like you, get over it.
Xiaoxi's bff (Jingxiao(?)): the only character with a bit of personality.. I guess.
The other friend who's married to Xiaoxi's bff (Lu Yang): clingy, edgy, the cringe I felt.. oof,
* Male characters apparently can't accept a 'No' or a 'Leave me alone'. Jiang Chen treated Xiaoxi like trash for years only to show he ''actually cared about her'' in the last 20 minutes of the series. That's not love, that's fucking toxic.
* They all were jealous, manipulative, what the fuck- I don't understand how people actually wish to have a romance like this (as I was reading Viki comments)
* Acting, again, was bad but I guess it's justified, most of the cast were rookies at the time.
Anyways, I can't tell you not to watch it because we all have different taste. But I think, romance in general, is not for me. The OST was cute, though. The best part of the drama was reading the horny comments by Viki users, lmao.
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Worst than The Last Airbender Live Action
This is probably worst than Last Airbender Live Action. Everything is just off. I tried viewing it with fresh eyes but its still bad.1. Characters- Aside from Lee Minho, everyone drifted apart from the characters they're supposed to play. The script is already bad as it it but they just had to make their own interpretation to the characters and ruin them. Like how can they turn a bullied character into a bully? How can they make KDJ hate the novel TWSA, when it was supposed to be his lifeline for over 13 years when he was suffering from being bullied and being depressed? How can they make the writer, tls123 say a petty thing such as "then write it yourself", when she wrote twsa for him and only him? How can they change KDJ's beloved and cheered character from YJH to Jung Heewon? Jung Heewon is not even mentioned in TWSA, she's just an extra that died somewhere in the story of TWSA.
2. Story- Aside from the synopsis of the novel becoming real and apocalypse happening with quests to survive(the scenarios), everything is off. They changed almost everything, like 99% of the story. I'm okay with minor changes but changing the heart of the story is the worst that they have done.
3. Script and Cinematography- The dialogues are so cringe I can't even laugh, at least The Last Airbender is bad that is funny. This is just bad. The cinematography is like its done by newbies. I think skits from reels and shorts are better than this.
In conclusion, this is like building a new building but without the original and important foundations. And also with different blocks and parts that doesn't seem to fit together.
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iQIYI produces a lot of crap and this is no exception...
OMG was that bad. While the script makes at least some sense, the acting is bad and especially the editing is the worst. Even all 53 episodes cut together made this not a movie with any flow. It's just a hack fest, the next scene had nothing to do with the scene before.Of course with an unpolished script and no clear vision from the director there comes bad acting... The small "boy" is too young to be a police officer from the get go, so it's completely unbelievable to begin with. His acting is also very rough. The side characters slide off into soap opera characters, all over-dramatized and over-acted.
So this series is a bad joke and even the chemistry between the leads leaves something to be desired. The only positive note is, that this is one of the few vers couples ever in BL, but that does not help the series at all. Also the production quality was not on par with similar productions. There are some sound problems which also don't help the series and makes me derank it even more. Just don't waste your time with this crap and do something more productive. 🤣
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This is the best short drama I’ve seen!
My personal opinion: So well done, esp compared to most other short series I’ve seen. I absolutely loved the pacing. It didn’t feel rushed to me nor super slow. There weren’t loose ends all over the place. The acting, filming, editing, just all of it was really well done. Won’t say more cause I don’t want to spoil anything, but I totally recommend this series.Was this review helpful to you?
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Consistent plot, characterisation
First time writing a review. Been looking forward to SOKP since TTEOTM ended. Was hooked from episode 1 onwards. Very interesting plot and characters. Most importantly, consistent plot all the way from episode 1 to episode 38, and consistent characters. Some dramas start off strong but lose steam halfway through, but not this drama.Let's start with FL Jiang Xuening, acted by Bai Lu. With her second chance in life, she hopes to amend her mistakes. She is smart and acts quite logically. She will fight for herself. I feel the acting is also good. Not sure what else to add.
Xie Wei, acted by Zhang Linghe. I was worried about ZLH acting in SOKP as XW due to MJTY's GZY, but turns out I was wrong. He acted well in this drama. I love how he portrays his crazy side, and on the flip of a switch, shows his gentle face. I also love this character, such a multi-faceted character. He is a schemer, kind of morally gray. In some episodes, he is crazy, enough to make me feel weird sometimes. This type of character adds life to a drama. He also stays true to his character.
Zhang Zhe also stays true to his character.
Yan Lin, acted by Zhou Jun Wei. He's like a puppy. Glad he's accepting of who Xuening loves, and accepts that he's not the one Xuening love.
The side characters in SOKP are also great. For example, the princess, Xuehui, Yan Lin's father, Xuening's father. Man, even Xue Shu, stays true to her character right till the very end.
Comes with a satisfying ending! Not a rushed ending. Not a 1 minute slapped ending. Not some sort of ending placed at a special episode. An actual satisfying ending to tie the ends of everything, and doesn't break immersion! I don't know why, but this is quite rare nowadays in cdrama land.
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Otherwise they were all fit for there roles. The thing I especially love about this drama is the loyalty and brotherhood between Bai Zheng Qing and his surroundings.
The drama is worth watching don't miss out for those who love romance, history, mafia, some comedy, unexpected and expected type of drama.
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