It was really good.
I downloaded this one a while ago but only just now got around to watching it. It sucked me in from the first episode.I don't normally take these types of stories seriously, the protaganists are usually vapid and the love interest is a horrible person. But I loved both of the lead.
Someone should probably do something about the synopsis on this site though.. Uh, it's not very accurate?
First of all, when was it established that she was dissatisfied with reality? When was it said that she was passionate about fantasies? At most she read one web comic.
For someone dissatisfied with reality, she was awfully quick to want to go back home again. Which leads me into the next complaint, when does she ever say that she wants to be the female lead in that web comic? The only thing we see her say about it is that it had a tragic ending. She came across like she picked a decent looking comic and felt ripped off when it didn’t have a happy ending. So confusing. It's like it was written by someone who didn't watch the show.
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In pursuits of uniqueness, failed to deliver even the ordinary.
After watching almost one-third of this series, there is still not a single aspect, character, or storyline that truly keeps me engaged or makes me eager to continue. Five out of sixteen episodes are already over, yet I am still waiting for something meaningful to happen. Instead, I am stuck watching this overly sensitive male lead throwing constant tantrums, behaving as if the entire world should adjust to his moods. He comes across as cranky and emotionally exhausting, while the female lead keeps babysitting him with endless patience.What frustrates me even more is how this self abasing female lead continues to tolerate his behavior despite being disrespected again and again. He has humiliated her in countless ways, yet she stays around as if she has no self-respect, almost like a doormat who refuses to walk away. Her actions make it difficult to sympathize with her character.
Then there is this third character who treats other people’s house like his personal love hotel, casually walking in and out whenever he pleases, while maintaining privacy against the house owner himself. The supporting cast does not help either. We have an animal abuser, a worthless paparazzi reporter, an annoyingly loud personal assistant, and a woman constantly insecure about her husband’s past relationship. The only somewhat decent character so far is the shaman.
On top of all the plot moves at a painfully slow pace. The storytelling lacks tension, meaningful clues, or satisfying reveals. At this point, it feels less like a drama and more like a test of patience.
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Soooo Depressing
Hate the ads for the candy and food appearing in the K-dramas- they are really overdone. I don't think Netflix offers the best in K, C or J dramas.The narrative began in an interesting way then the narrative failed. The acting nor the plot were able to convince me that these characters were in their 30s and still so clueless.
Both characters were struggling and had very odd ideas about what is possible in a relationship.
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This review may contain spoilers
Profound slice-of-life melodrama with outstanding acting, cinematography & symbolism
I really enjoyed watching and rewatching this melodrama. This is not a light-hearted romance and those looking for that type of drama will be disappointed and frustrated. On the other hand, if you are looking for a drama with lots of intense emotional scenes and thought-provoking uses of symbolism and imagery to explore themes of transition, personal growth, healing, trauma, and communication issues that many of us experience in life, I recommend this drama.Park Jin-young hit it out of the park with his acting. It was a pleasure to witness how he has matured as an actor: how he took on the role of Yeon Tae Seo, made it his own and powerfully conveyed the complex emotional states of this introverted character. Kim Min Ju took a risk with her first leading role which was a challenging one given that the POV was more focused on the ML. I applaud her for not playing it safe and she definitely showed how she is improving as an actor. I look forward to upcoming roles from both of the actors.
The cinematography and OST were both beautiful and enriched the emotional tone of the different scenes, both in the countryside and in Seoul.
The use of symbolism and imagery was an important element in this drama that I really appreciated. Some of these are particularly noteworthy. For instance, both of the main characters carried their "emotional baggage" throughout the drama (and they had a lot)-the ML's backback and the FL's yellow suitcase played an important role in many scenes. Another important image was that of the door to the FL's house in Yeonwoo; a door often represents transitions, personal growth, and new opportunities and it was used well in the drama in multiple scenes. The use of flashbacks that were prompted by seeing or hearing something such as a key in a lock or the sound of footsteps were also particularly poignant.
Since the POV was mostly focused on the ML, it was harder to empathize with the FL and the script writing struggled a bit in this respect. We witnessed the personal growth of the ML during the drama so that he could finally accept that he was worthy of a future and then take steps to shape the future that he wanted. One of the many compelling scenes was the one where he asked his friend "Will talking about it really help me move on?" In other words, is talking about our problems helpful since, like many people, he had held it in all these years and he could start to see that is yes, it is helpful to talk with others about our problems and issues and indeed, that is the way to healthy relationships. In contrast, the FL was living a life that had almost been shattered by the abandonment of her mother and suicide of her father. She was living but not really living. Ultimately, she needed to reclaim her "family" and her sense of worth before she could enter into a healthy relationship and she was able to find a way to do that towards the end of the drama but it was a frustrating journey to witness because she was really lost and really struggled.
The ending: There is an important conversation between the ML and SFL in episode 5 which indicated where the relationship between the ML and FL was headed. While speaking about the making of a frame, A-sol asks “Then can it be done quickly?” Tae-seo replies “No, you have to wait 3 more times”, “you have to wait for these three, no matter what”. (They are not just talking about making a picture frame). A-sol then says . . ."oh . . .3 moments of waiting” and again in episode 9, they discuss the the "3rd and final moment of waiting" . . .which is where the drama ended. Although the photos that the FL sent the ML at the end that showed the spaces that they had shared together in the different stages of their relationship including the school, the bus stop, the train station and his rooftop flat indicated that she was ready to enter into a relationship with him since she had healed and she was shining again.
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very rewatchable comfort show
i loved the chemistry between the main leads, i think it's my favorite comfort show with the cliché trope of city boy and town girl. good amount of adorable scenes but also i just like watching characters be silly and fall in love in a beautiful place. also their first kiss scene is still one of my favorites, i've watched a lot of dramas and i always remember this show, idk if it's the chemistry between the actors but i found it soo cute and memorable. this is the type of kdama i always rewatch when im feeling sick or idk what to watch next <3Was this review helpful to you?
I thought this was gonna be a silly gl that is space themed
my bad for watching the movie without knowing anything about it except there's an astronaut on the poster 😭😭😭.anyways i wasn't expecting the production quality i didn't reliase it was a high budget ish film.
Dialog and voice over was often lacking, felt a bit dry at times, the store and timeline and get a bit confusing but i liked the concept.
oh and the often the English dialog felt too dry or written in a way that lacked emotion or was too formal.
their chemistry was insane but yea.
i need a minute rn. def would recommend tho. like better than expected but there's quite a bit lacking in terms of dialog writing mostly.
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First of all, this is a general overview for those wondering whether they should watch it. If you enjoy crime, detective stories, dark themes, and plot twists, you’re in the right place. But if you’re looking for an idol drama with fairy-tale-like relationships far removed from real life, you might want to stay away.
This series will make you question love, friendship, and trust. If you watch it with an open mind and a bit of empathy, without overthinking every detail, you’ll really enjoy it. In short, if you want a well-written crime drama with a touch of romance, give it a try.
A lot of comments focus on the love triangle—don’t get too caught up in that. In adult relationships, it’s completely normal for people to have a past when they meet someone new. And as you’ll see, the story goes much deeper than just an “ex-lover” situation.
As for the acting, Jing Boran delivers an amazing performance as always, and the chemistry between the leads is absolutely perfect. I personally really enjoyed watching it.
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Stylist murder mystery with awesome cast
I loved watching this mystery. The cast was solid - they did a great job playing interesting characters. The story was interesting and maybe not the hardest to figure out but but with all of the characters, it was interesting to see how their stories intersected. I loved the dynamic of the main leads. I love the visuals and the art world elements. I think I could see myself watching this again, even though some of the twists would be known.Was this review helpful to you?
It Felt Like She Was Grooming Him
I felt grossed out because they met when he was a child and he grew up with her as a guardian figure. She felt like his mother and he had a crush on her???? And she likes him back????It felt like she was grooming him to be her lover. It felt so gross.
ACTING
I think the actors did well. I didn't see much of the story because I was so grossed out hoping it would get better.
STORY
With a different premise, this would have been great. I can't really tell you how great the story would have been because I dropped it after a few episodes. It was also a while ago that I watched it and all I remember is how grossed out I was. I remember Zhu Xu Dan and a gist of her character's arc, though. I can't believe I didn't drop it from episode 1. Maybe I had hope that it wasn't as bad as I thought. But nope, it was. This has a lot of great actors so I thought it must be good. I must be missing something. Why is everyone liking this?
Don't continue watching things that make you sick, people.
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The best kdrama about doctors
Honestly, one of the best kdramas I've watched this year. Not gonna lie, some episodes are tough to watch. If you're sensitive to medical trauma or blood, maybe skip this one. But if you're looking for something that doesn't treat its audience like idiots and actually respects how messy healing and grief are, this is it. You won't regret it if you spend your time watching it. Would recommend, but maybe not if you're already having a rough week. Have something light ready to watch after. Anyway 10/10 for me.Was this review helpful to you?
Got Bored After A While
In the beginning I found this super funny and a nice watch. I enjoyed seeing Lu Yu Xiao's acting... And then the story just kept being mediocre and started to get more and more boring.ACTING
Lu Yu Xiao is a great actor. She has a brilliant range of emotion and she was a perfect fit in this drama. I can't imagine another actress. I think the ML's actor did a good job, too. I think he should be in more things. I would like to see him in a costume drama - even better if it's with Lu Yu Xiao again. As for the other actors? They were meh.
STORY
It started off great. And then it started to seem a bit random. I lost interest around episode 11 and couldn't finish episode 12. The villain needed a slap. A few slaps. There was no reason for what he was doing (at least from what I can see from the explanation we get at episode 11-12). The story started to feel pointless. It felt like it was just dragging on and the characters couldn't get out of the whole the villain dug for them (Which yeah, can be executed well but this just felt meaningless and emotionless and a "ah this is so bad" and then someone cries kinda thing).
4/ 10 because of how acted this is which is a 10 but the story - WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?! I don't know where it went wrong but it went wrong somewhere. This could have been great but it just turned mediocre.
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This review may contain spoilers
Women empowerment, Politics, Justice, Slowburn
Straight to my Fav list! (≧▽≦)This drama truly reaches the peak of storytelling regarding women empowerment and equality. The female lead’s character is absolutely admirable. All of her achievements didn’t simply fall into her lap; they were realistically earned through sheer will and ambition. She is easily one of the best-written female characters I have ever seen in a C-drama. I loved witnessing Mudan’s journey—from building her business, facing countless challenges, and handling them with such grace and intelligence.
This show is essentially about women empowerment, sprinkled with elements of politics and justice. It is a gut-wrenching drama, and you will witness loss everywhere, particularly among the female characters. To be honest, I believe that is exactly the point. It portrays the harsh reality of what life was truly like for women in that era. If historical dramas always presented easy, happy endings, they would lose the truth of just how difficult and cruel that time could be.
(Spoilers ahead)
I appreciate how realistic it is. The story perfectly captures the complexity of the female mindset shaped by that society. Take Shengyi, for example—she genuinely believed she couldn’t survive without a husband because that was what her environment taught her. Her character is the complete opposite of Mudan, which only highlights the strength of the lead even more. Then there is Lian Zhou, who longed for freedom but felt trapped, yet still chose to poison Mudan—not because she wanted to, but because she felt she had to. I love how Mudan eventually points this out; it really drives home the core message of the show.
As for the male lead, he is admittedly overshadowed by the female lead, but we have to agree that he is one of the most open-minded male leads out there. He allows Mudan to be independent and stands by to offer help only when she needs it.
One thing I must point out is that the dynamic between Youzhen and Liu Chang is peak drama. Why aren’t there more stories like this? It was so toxic, and honestly, I didn’t want a happy ending because there was simply no way they could have one.
I loved how they were both in pain, trapped in this cycle where Youzhen is obsessed with Liu Chang, yet Liu Chang is only obsessed with his Mudan. Because of this, they ended up tormenting and hurting each other. It was so thrilling to watch. The lines they threw at each other were satisfyingly sharp—I literally dropped my jaw when she said, "You torment me, so I torment He Weifang."
When it comes to the romance, it is the definition of peak slowburn. However, they are also the most indecisive couple I have ever encountered—it almost made me faint! Like, bro, just confess already! (ー_ー゛) But despite that, it is a healthy romance where they support and help each other grow. I love that scene where Mudan protected the Jiang mansion. That was pure "aura farming." The authority she commanded in that moment? Peak. That being said, I actually ended up skipping their romantic scenes in Part 2 because I was so caught up in the main plot—their moments felt like a distraction to me, lol.
The casting is excellent. What I love most is that the drama doesn’t rely heavily on background music to manipulate your emotions; instead, it trusts entirely in the talent of its cast to carry the moment. This is my first time watching Yang Zi, and I am truly impressed. I’ve never seen an actress cry with so much expression without it looking awkward—it was so raw and real. This definitely won’t be my last drama of hers. The other female characters were also amazing, especially Shengyi and the County Princess. Their acting was so realistic that you can’t help but sympathize with them.
This show gave me every emotion I could ask for. Though, I won’t deny that I did find certain parts a bit dragging, specifically the later part of Part 1 and the early part of Part 2. And I think the pacing is too slow. Sometimes I do find myself feeling like the plot is stuck or not moving at all.
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A mild-flavored addition to the Grand Maison universe
Before I talk about this movie, we need to establish that this is the third big installment in the Grand Maison universe: there's a drama series, a special episode and this movie (there is also a spin off mini series, but that's more of a side dish, pun intended).When I'm writing this, in my location I could find the drama in both Netflix and HBO max, the special only on HBO max and the movie "elsewhere" (there are some good fansubs and some not so good google translate ones both out there).
The Grand Maison Tokyo drama series is remarkably good.
It has a lot of ingredients (pun intended, again) which make it enjoyable: the incredible food (production design is consistently superb throughout all installments), the character dynamics, the always enjoyable jdrama journey of the group of outcasts doing their best for a common goal.
However, what makes it remarkable is the dynamic between the two leads: the iconic duo of Kimura Takuya as the complicated chef Obana Natsuki and Suzuki Kyoka as the level-headed chef Hayami Rinko. Two legends who come together and meet each other in a way only they can.
The special episode, after the drama, was a disservice to this dynamic.
Rinko being the head chef for Grand Maison Tokyo and Obana learning to thrive more as her sous chef due to his difficulty relating to people was what made the success of the drama believable and enjoyable. Rinko being a woman, a head chef and learning to stand her ground without compromising her sensitivity was a standout from the series that the special squandered by making Obana and his childish way of helping out "in a tsundere way" remove agency from Rinko.
The movie doesn't fail them as much as the special did, but it can't re-capture the freshness (pun intended, for a third time) of the drama series. It's just alright. It's mild. And underseasoned course.
There are some episodes from the drama that are more enjoyable than this movie, to be quite honest. It's not bad, but we know, after a dozen episodes, that they can do better. When you remove Rinko from a lot of the main moments and underplay her value, Grand Maison goes from something unique to yet another KimuTaku drama where he's the coolest guy who knows more than anyone else but can't get along with people (A LIFE comes to mind). Rinko does more here than in the special, but not nearly as much as she did in the drama, where she was in a level playing field with Obana.
The majority of the main cast not being included in the movie also makes it less entertaining. Ok Taec Yeon is a good addition to the cast, but his background is a bit of a re-hash of both Obana's and Moe's. Aizawa is only present on the sidelines and Kyono is also a bit missing. It's like the special was intending to break ground for the movie to be more prominently about Obana, even though the theme of the movie is 'learning to work together'.
All in all, it's not bad, it still has that amazing production design that makes Grand Maison a stand out, but the drama remains the best of the installments so far.
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This review may contain spoilers
Seungmins (Stray Kids) Cousin stole our hearts !
Yay, our fist non BL Drama finished!The premise of this one instantly got our attention, and we loved the plot progression in the first half of the drama. So lets mention our "highs" first:
The Drama starts off with a likable MC, who is quite passionate at her job - we liked her simple, but realistic character. When the AI was introduced, we had to instantly link it with current real life topics - such as people talking with ChatGPT about their issues or full on AI BF/GF...
The story introduced a lot of cool elements as well as very hilarious side characters like the artist Mrs. Yun and the Boss of the publishing company.
We liked how the MC used the AI not only for personal groth, but also figuring out work problems.
BUT
The game itself and those plotlines kinda faded out towards the end. We felt like it got dropped to make space for the romance part of the drama.
The romance itself was, for us, carried by the male lead (looks like Seungmins (SKZ) cousin). He was so kind, gentle and charming (and forgiving LOL) that we couldnt help but to fall in love.
Sadly, we hoped that the relationship between them could have just blossomed out of the work rivarly they had going on. His confession in the car seemed a bit out of nowhere (eventhough the explained it we guess later). The affection was only shown in the recaps and not in those moments. We didnt really follow how he fell for her in the very BEGINNING (later on it was more obvious).
The MC later in the show got more and more boring, as she more and more depended on the AI and seemed like she couldnt make choices for herself... but maybe thats the point? Idk we felt like her character growth was kind of regressing from the first few episodes.
Still, it got a happy ending, with her deleting the AI and focusing on her IRL BF (IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MEEEE)
S: It felt like a middle school relationship sometimes
All in all we enjoyed it, with some small moments of rage :)
Honourable mentions:
- creepy alien man staring in our soul
- crazy artist
- Lee Jae Wook
- ugly af outfits (poor Jisoo)
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