Reviews

Great story, the acting however...

I'll start this off by saying that I really did enjoy watching this series, it was never boring for me. Typically, with shows from gmmtv, towards the last 3 or so episodes there's always such a huge conflict that breaks everybody up for no reason. With this show, however, at no point did any of the conflict feel forced. It felt real, in a sense. I liked the way the show progressed and I am glad I watched it.

However, there were some things that I absolutely did not like. First, I honestly didn't really like Eugene and Gram's story, but that's really no one's problem but mine. Maybe I'm just a hater. Their story wasn't bad, it just didn't interest me. I love Eugene and I'm glad she got her happy ending.

Now, the acting... This was another thing I absolutely did not like. Most of the cast did fine, First especially. Maybe I'm just biased, but I think he did an amazing job in the last two episodes, his heartbreak and betrayal was so beautifully portrayed. It makes me really sad that I can't say the same about his co-star, Gawin. He never looked sad, he just looked like he was in pain. I couldn't take his scenes seriously. I had no idea what emotions he was trying to portray throughout the entire show. It made me really dislike his character. Maybe he's improved since this show aired, but I wouldn't know.

Overall, it's a really great show with an interesting, well-written plot. There are some things that could have, and should have, been different, but I still had a great time watching it which is all that matters.

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What Did I Just Watch?

This show was a disappointment for a J-Drama.

Nothing about this show gave J-Drama and I hate that for me. We know what Japan is known for when it comes to their dramas and we typically know what to expect. Japan isn’t afraid to push the envelope and truly GO for it but this drama doesn’t reflect any of that. This is gonna sound shady but it is what it is – this felt more like a K-Drama than a J-Drama. More sanitized, more polished, more tame, more bland.

I expected so much more from this drama. When you read the summary, you’re expecting something more gritty, more raw, more spicy. None of those adjectives can be used to describe this drama in any way, and that’s sad. Mainly because I feel that Japan would be the only country to do a series like this justice. Japan is the only one capable of doing it. Alas, it fell short.

The main issue is the female lead. Wow! I’ve watched a ton of dramas where the female lead is weak and purely ornamental. I’ve seen my fair share of dramas where the female lead falls into that category but I expected her to grow over time. Sure, the drama is merely 10 episodes but I still expected to see some growth. That didn’t happen. Risa had no backbone. None. It’s kind of like she was just … there. She was a plot device; nothing more, nothing less.

She often got lost on the canvas. She had no presence. She has no personality. You often forget that she was there even when she was on your screen. She completely disappeared in these scenes and not in a good way. She disappeared in the sense that anyone could have been swapped out for her and nothing would change. You wouldn’t notice anything differently. She left little to no impact on me. I’m not sure who to blame for that – the actress, the director, the writers. I simply don’t know who to point the finger at. It was just bad all around.

The male lead was … okay, I guess? He wasn’t that great either, if I’m being honest. He had more of a presence than her but he was still pretty bad too. Now that I’m writing this, I’d say that the blame is mostly on the writers and the director. They weren’t necessarily miscast but their characters still gave nothing. Their characters were flat, one-dimensional, and underdeveloped. The beginning would make you think that you were gonna get something but that didn't happen. It didn't take long for this drama to fall apart. Some people said around 3 episodes and I won't disagree. It definitely happened early on.

All in all, I would NOT recommend this drama. Unless you have a morbid curiosity that you want to satisfy, then go ahead. Unless you're bored and just want to watch something short and mindless, then have at it! However, don't watch this if you're truly looking for a good story, good characterization, an even and balanced plot, or good acting. You're not getting any of that. Also, no. This isn't a case of me being a prude who clutches her pearls over everything. This just didn't do it for me. It was so bad and it could have been so much better.

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Too much angst

What I like:
Superb acting, good-looking casts, great CGI, good music, story of romantic love, friendship, forgiveness, self-reflection and family.

What I don't like:
Too much suffering and self-sacrifice on the part of the ML. It made him so pathetic and annoying. Even towards the end, it's heavily emotional. It was hard to watch most of the time that I had to skip several episodes.

Rewatch value: You have to be masochistic if you want to rewatch the series again.

But then again, each one of us has different taste, so go watch and judge it yourself.

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Skip this unless you like tragic weak characters

This whole series is about how to be a weak man hiding under a mask of noble sacrifice.

One and only showed how to be a weakling when everyone needs you. The saying goes "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". Well, the ML was such a coward about not taking responsibility when he knew the king was a tyrant. He will let the people of his nation suffer and his love die as long as he keeps his silly promise. Watch that if you like tragic moron characters.

Then another lifetime swings around and ML and FL are tied by karmic tragedy again. This time ML is a passive mute person with no redeeming qualities and the FL pretty much carries the relationship by being a doormat for the ML. He constantly bends to will of his family, forcing the female lead to accept every type of abuse from them. Letting his crazy stepmother abuse his wife verbally without ever speaking up for her. Cancelling their wdding engagement party/wedding over and over. Letting his stepbrother physically harm his wife in Bremen, kill his stepsister, and eventually drive his wife off a balcony. All the while constantly having a sad scowl on his face.

I was hoping this lifetime the ML would step up and have growth but he shows the exact same attitude of never showing expressions of love and being a coward again. Let's hope fate never ties them to be husband and wife a third lifetime.

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teach you a lesson is basically taxi driver set in schools, and honestly, it was ridiculously entertaining. the case-of-the-week format kept things fast-paced, tackling everything from bullying and cybercrime to toxic parents and academic pressure, while still tying it back to the tragedy that started it all. it's definitely unrealistic and leans heavily into wish-fulfillment justice, but watching the erpb give bullies a taste of their own medicine was undeniably satisfying. the cast had great chemistry, making this a fun, cathartic watch even when its message occasionally became a little too heavy-handed.

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First Impression: Fix the Error

Overall: unique premise but with several characters and a short runtime I'm unsure how this is going to go. 6 episodes about 9 minutes each. Airing on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/7808/fix-the-error-2026-e01 and the Shortime app. My referral link is https://playground.shortime.en/invite/NKNIWI (all letters) and it should get you a bonus.

Content Warnings (keeping it spoiler free for now)

What I Liked
- visuals
- unique premise

Room For Improvement
- I'm confused who is the main couple which should have been apparent since we are already through 1/3 of the series
- they have too many characters for a short run time

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First Impression: A Dog and a Plane

Overall: curious to see how this Thai romcom goes. 10 episodes about 45 minutes each. Airing on GagaOOLala (in U.S., U.K., Germany, France) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/7706/a-dog-and-a-plane-2026-e01 ; Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/41492c-a-dog-and-a-plane?qId=696ca5913d3ce7f6d9fbb4e32c8cc3ce#episodes and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI5osb5iHqLGUEBq7Ca7C-y1 (available in several countries in Africa and Southeast Asia but not Thailand)

What I Liked
- chemistry
- easy to understand premise
- I chuckled a few times*

Room For Improvement
- *did not laugh at all of the humor and the comedy sound effects detracted from the humor
- nonsense stuff that sometimes pulled me out of the story
- nervous that a character is going to keep things from another character 2

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So Far So Good

So many dramas this year are trying too hard to make a good drama. I haven't been too lost in this one, but the story line could be a bit better. I'm not a fan of skipping backwards and forwards on a timeline. Thankfully my newest bias, Lin Mu Ran, has finally shown up in this drama. Those dimples speak to me and those eyes are definitely wonderful to see. He appears as an assassin, but not a very serious one so far. Of course I love the FL and ML and the action in it has kept me watching. It's not dragging out scenes. I'm writing this review sooner than most. Nothing can beat Pursuit Of Jade, but this drama beats most of the ones presented this year. Happy watch!

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Definitely Worth the hype

I honestly don't know why people are rating this drama so low. Please don't let the ratings stop you from watching it. At the end of the day, people are always going to have different opinions, and no matter what a drama does, someone will still find something to complain about.

This drama was absolutely worth watching, and I personally enjoyed it a lot. One of the things I loved most was the plot twists. They kept me interested and made the story feel fresh. As someone who watches a lot of zombie dramas, I can confidently say this one felt different from many of the others I've seen, and that's what made it stand out for me.

I'm not usually the type to write reviews. I normally watch a drama and move on to the next one, but this time I felt compelled to leave a comment because I genuinely don't regret spending my time on it.

I don't want to leave any spoilers, but the acting was top-notch. The cast did an amazing job bringing their characters to life, and the emotions felt believable throughout the drama. The pacing kept me engaged, and I found myself wanting to know what would happen next.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience from start to finish and would definitely recommend giving it a chance instead of relying solely on the ratings.

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Nothing Burger

While looking for a contemporary drama to break up the costume ones I've been chugging, I skipped down my watch list to IDOL I.

I want to say the positive things first.

I really liked the way the show looked. There was clearly a visual vision in every episode. There was some editing and camerawork that made a good impression of me and honestly had me hyped at the start of the show.

The acting is also amazing. Sooyoung has been an icon for decades at this point and she's never been in a truly bad drama. I loved seeing her play this confident woman with hidden duality. Kim Jae-young isn't as well known to me but he did a great job getting his emotions across, and he did such a good job that I totally forgot that he was a grown ass man who was older than Sooyoung.

Now the not so good stuff.

This show is a murder mystery that also seeks to tackle the pitfalls of idol culture, parasocialism, and even government corruption???

Bruh. they shoulda stuck to one thing.

The murder mystery is a jumbled up mess that's easily predictable and inconsistent throughout the whole story. The show will give you a clue that tells you one thing about the crime and then reveal the actual events were the complete opposite of what they told you. Other clues will give you the answer basically immediately.

This drama goes out of its way to show how awful Sasaeng fans are…. but they just get slaps on the wrist multiple times and technically never learn their lessons because they are STILL following the guy around by the end.

The cause of the most grief for kpop idols aren't just the bold fans who physically invade their privacy or bombard their phones, its regular faceless fans who make up the bulk of a fandom and will tear any idol apart for any perceived weakness.

This show expects me to be comfortable with a FL who expressed disappointment when she heard about our ML having a dating scandal and perked back up when he denied the relationship. We later find out the relationship was real and he did have strong feelings for the 2nd FL.

Watching a fan fall in love with an idol she's supposed to be defending, just felt icky. I think I would have liked it better if this show had no romance.

Speaking of the 2nd FL. Women chasing a man who has either shown them NO romantic interest OR has made it clear that they DON'T want a relationship is MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE. I can't stand it, and this drama offers a big helping of the jealous 2nd FL trope. It's annoying and awful and I hate it. Girl I know you're crazy 🤪 or whatever but have some respect for yourself.

I also had a huge issue with the corruption bits. It was so frustrating to watch a drama that thought I was dumb enough to believe that prosecutors doing their job was like a miracle. 2nd ML has so many dumb scenes with his dad where they're like “why are you doing your job? Make shit up!” It was so dumb, and I hated the way this whole thing connected to our (dadless) ORPHAN FL.

Also EVERYONE in this thing is like the WORST person ever to our ML once he gets accused. Every sad backstory you could think of for an idol, bros got it.

I didn't care for the musical bits but I was having fun at the beginning before the romantic bits started up. I know that its only 12 episodes but I was so frustrated watching the ML start questioning the FL about the men in her life… like dude, it's none ya business AND I think you got more important things to worry about? lol anyways, I'm never gonna rewatch. 5/10 no drama.

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