Reviews

A découvrir

Un magnifique drama, porté par une histoire bien plus complexe qu'une simple romance. Pour moi, c'est avant tout l'histoire de trois hommes qui aiment une même femme, chacun à leur manière, mais aussi et peut-être surtout celle des liens qui vont se construire et/ou évoluer entre ces mêmes hommes. C'est là que le drama prend toute sa dimension et réserve certains de ses plus beaux moments.

Les intrigues sont nombreuses, parfois complexes, mais elles se rejoignent et sont très bien menées. Les personnages secondaires ont une vraie place et les derniers épisodes, particulièrement forts en émotions, donnent encore davantage de profondeur à tout ce qui s'est construit jusque-là. Le casting est excellent, avec une mention toute particulière pour Ci Sha.

En revanche, je le conseillerais davantage pour son histoire et ses personnages que pour sa romance. Le couple principal fonctionne, mais il est parfois un peu dépossédé de sa propre histoire au profit de tout ce qui se joue autour de lui, et cela empêche malheureusement de s'y investir émotionnellement autant qu'on aurait pu le souhaiter.

Malgré ce bémol, A Splendid Match reste une très belle réussite, riche, émouvante et remarquablement portée par ses personnages.

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Beyond the Crime: Pain, Trauma & Justice

This series is proving to be so much more than just a crime thriller. What makes it so powerful is the way it explores pain, suffering, past trauma, responsibility, and the uncertainty of what comes next. Kay and Phat are not only trying to uncover the truth behind the murders, they are also carrying the emotional weight of everything they have been through. Their past trauma continues to affect their choices, their trust, and the way they see the people around them.

I also love how the story gives a voice to innocent people who have been failed or silenced by a corrupt system. The deeper they go, the more it feels like justice is not simply about finding a culprit. It is about facing a system where powerful people can hide the truth and where the innocent are left to suffer. That constant uncertainty makes every episode more intense because you never really know who to trust or what painful truth might come out next.

And the acting makes all of this even more impactful. Dew’s portrayal of Kay’s pain, vulnerability, suspicion, and inner conflict is phenomenal, while Tee brings so much emotional depth to Phat. Their chemistry feels natural, and the way they show complicated emotions through their expressions and silent looks is one of the strongest parts of the series. You can feel the pain, doubt, fear, and slowly developing trust without everything having to be said out loud.

The dark atmosphere, intense crime scenes, psychological tension, and the contrast between the manga panels and the live-action scenes make the series feel unique and eerie. The pacing is also getting more intense with every episode, and I love how it keeps giving us more questions instead of easy answers. A beautifully written story with powerful performances. This is becoming a truly unforgettable psychological crime drama.

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Let me start by expressing how disappointed I was with the use of so much AI.. Even for simple day to day scenes and also the excessive reliance on green screens.. It felt lifeless, fake and pathetic in every sense..

Apart from that, the drama has quite a lot of good things to talk about.. The relationships mainly.. The relationship between the ML and the FL, the sibling bonding between Lin Zhi Xia and Lin Ze Qiu, the friendships and their bond.. I found it endearing..

I felt the story was running, running and running and rushing towards the ending.. Like it was a straight line from the beginning.. There were no unnecessary conflicts.. But the science jargon and the way Lin Zhi Xia talks can tire you out at times, unless you are a big science freak..

I liked how they portrayed Lin Zhi Xia.. We know she is a genius but we also get to see the other side of her through the genuine friction she has with people.. How she misreads a situation, how she handles stress, how her directness reads as coldness to people.. It takes time for everyone to warm up to her.. Well, unless you are Jiang Yu Bai.. He was that one person she didn't have to explain everything to.. Because he could understand her without words.. There are several scenes where the show uses this to show you exactly who understands her and who doesn't.. The show, like a maths equation keeps proving why the ML is the right one for her and why she goes to extreme lengths to find him and keep him close to her..

Now, their romance.. For a show titled Genius Girlfriend, they sure took their time getting to the girlfriend part.. They should have gotten together sooner and their first kiss should have been 4 episodes earlier than it was.. Because the whole plot was set and waiting for one of them to make the move.. They dragged it along for the last 3 episodes.. The writers and their need to make everything a slow burn is a buzzkill.. This might be my personal opinion but TXW carried the chemistry alone.. HYT, with his stiff expressions and poor dialogue delivery didn't bring much to the character.. Anyway, I liked how they showed how deeply she is in love with him.. TXW nailed her role to perfection.. Could have avoided some of the cringe moments though..

This drama had more than one couple.. There were three couples and all of their stories were good.. But I wished there were more episodes to explore the secondary couples stories too.. Their part of the story was barely touched, especially the second couple Lin Ze Qiu and Jin Bai Hui.. LZQ and JBH were really sweet.. How he repairs her book and keeps it safe for all those years and the scene where he pauses the meteor shower playback so she could make her wish.. It's just such quiet actions that made it more meaningful.. They had genuine intimacy in their limited screen time and one can't help but wish for more..

Jin Bai Hui's parents.. I can't help but talk about them.. I honestly wanted her to cut off her ties with them for how they behaved the entire drama.. But she doesn't.. Well, this was not that kind of a story.. Like I said less conflicts, less drama.. They wanted her to study and do nothing else.. Nothing at all.. They barely let her breathe so that she could study.. But then when it's time for her to use all that hard work and effort to build something for herself, they want her to ditch everything and get married to some random dude?? What?? Seriously?? She should have made them feel the pain of what she went through all her life because of them.. I wish she had.. Vivienne Tien is a good actress.. I hope we get to see her in more stuff, in more important roles and with more screen time..

So, What about Shen Fu Xuan?? Well, he is sort of an enigma.. I don't know what he was supposed to be in the whole drama.. He was the third wheel, he was the good friend, he was the love rival who never actually took any effort to understand the person he said he loved.. And his whole conversation with the ML, trying to act all nonchalant, be the better guy and walk out of the triangle.. Dude, you never stood a chance.. You were not even the SML here.. In this drama of 18+ hours, there was literally not even one scene that could show us that you had even 1% of a chance.. This girl literally wears a broken watch just because of the ML, for how many years?? Anyway, it's good that he walked out without making a mess of it and ruining their friendship..
But I don't understand why the writer chose to keep him out of everything after the main leads got together.. Like, he was literally nowhere to be seen with the friends..

Overall.. It's a feel good drama.. Don't go into it looking for just romance, this is much more than that.. You will love their school days, their little band, their performances.. It's a drama that extends beyond its leads.. You watch it not just for the main leads, but for the whole cast..

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Quel dommage.

Quelle déception pour ma part… Et pourtant, avec Tan Jian Ci, que j'ai trouvé extraordinaire dans Love Me, Love My Voice, j'avais vraiment envie d'aimer Love as Fireworks.

Malheureusement, je n'ai jamais réussi à entrer dans l'histoire. Je l'ai trouvée plate, beaucoup trop longue, avec énormément de détours pour finalement assez peu de choses à raconter. Et surtout, la romance n'a pas fonctionné sur moi : je n'ai pas ressenti cette alchimie qui aurait pu me faire oublier les longueurs et m'attacher réellement au couple.

Tout n'est évidemment pas mauvais, et il trouvera certainement son public, c'est aussi toute la subjectivité des dramas. Mais pour moi, malgré un acteur principal que j'apprécie énormément, ça restera une vraie déception.

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This non-con is getting ridiculous

Holy shit what an absolute egregious waste of a show. I had been hearing people SCREAMING for this so I said I’d give it a go… Why did I do that. This was just a fantastical combination of the worst things you would want in a romance drama BL aside. What is it with China and the fucking non-consensual bullshit? What the fuck? I watched it in Revenge Love. I watched it in several other fucking Chinese dramas that I can't think of the name of. Why are they so big on the non-consensual bullshit? Stop it.
The premise of this show is beyond ridiculous. Why are they trying to make two actors live together, practicing in their own time, and then shaming Zhang Zhun for not wanting to? Absolutely not. And then saying “Oh, well, if it feels good, then it feels good.” Um no??? If you're practicing, you should be practicing with an intimacy coordinator, not by yourselves in your fucking shared hotel room. It just seems so insane and unprofessional to pull from? I feel like intimacy coordinators probably aren’t as known about as they should be, ESPECIALLY when i see some twerps in the comments saying ‘oh this is definitely not acting’ or ‘this feels like self service not fan service’ brother that is the POINT YOU FUCKING IDIOTS. that’s the WHOLE SELLING POINT. So this kinda feels like some adaptation of some writer going ooooh let’s make these actors live together for 2 weeks to build chemistry and practice scenesss togetherrrr. oh BROTHER THIS GUY STINKS.
Another thing.. what is with this focus on breathing in intimate scenes? The only thing I’m hearing is LOUD ASS BREATHING and I’m gonna need everyone to BACK UP from the mic. I know the issue is with the dubbing but could we not have fixed this bullshit by now? China has been doing this forever and we still haven’t found a way of making the dubbing seem somewhat convincing? Instead I’m getting them breathing in my ear as ‘sounding sexy’ when if just sounds like bad asmr with actors who use vocal fry for a living.
Like why are they have sex when Zhen Xin’s aware that Zhang Zhun’s drunk? Why are you TAKING PHOTOS??? WHY IS EVERYONE SO OKAY WITH THIS??? All this bullshit just to get completely ignored when the main lead gets together. And the cheating? I’m fucking doneeeee.
I love this concept in dramas but if I see another rape-y, non consensual scene, I’m going to start hunting people down. It’s so unfortunate like why can’t we make this concept but not… morally wrong?
I’m sorry, I tried but this was scene after scene of non-con and it just ain’t working for me.

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Spooked but where’s the love.

When the movies The Sixth Sense and Ghost have a baby, you get Spooky in Love. So let’s be clear: this was never really about investigating death and murder, nor was it truly a rom-com.

The references to Greek mythology and the boat that carries souls to the afterlife were a creative touch (sarcasm intended), and an elaborate way to end a soul, if you will. But apparently, nothing demonstrates true love better than sacrificing oneself by getting run over by a truck. Because, naturally.

This show is so riddled with tropes that it could fill a Swiss cheese. So let’s just call it what it is: a cheesy show.

Unfortunately, it is also symptomatic of what I find increasingly frustrating about some newer K-dramas: recycled ideas, lazy writing, and stories seemingly designed around what will generate Netflix hits rather than what makes for a satisfying narrative. The audience is apparently expected to consume whatever is served, specially cheese.

Just as I said in my episode reviews, the ending completely fell off a cliff. What started with an intriguing premise ultimately became unremarkable, predictable, and forgettable.

Maybe it works for dreamers. It certainly didn’t work for me.

And that’s the real shame. With two such talented actors carrying the story, they deserved a much better script.

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Great Acting-Terrible Script

I really loved the idea of putting a highly decorated and tail first psychologist together with an absolutely intuitive fortune teller and see what will happen. That idea hooked me from the very start and keep me interested until episode 11 when it got very difficult to sympathize with the ML and the story gave the viewer no reason to like him what so ever. Despite that, the push and pull between the leads was really good and you thought for sure that when they got together it was going to be a chemistry explosion. Unfortunately, that is not what happened, at least for this drama viewer.

After finishing the series, I have a clear understanding of where the ML was coming, the trauma and the aftermath of it, but I think it would have been best to clarify this issue way earlier in the narrative, so that the viewer understands why the ML acts the way he does. Instead, we are led to believe that ML is a renowned yet obsessed psychologist carrying unethical experiments because his professional opinion is that women are incapable of love all the way to the last episode. Which just made this viewer not connect to the ML at all....well, until the last episode.

main cast - wonderful, lovely acting skills
push and pull between the leads - excellent
romance= most of the time, I was not sure what was real and what were lies
story line - started off well and ended in a happy fiasco
scrip writer - go back to school
soundtrack - nothing extraordinary
ending- happy but rushed
spice - average-nothing special

This drama had so going for it BUT with so much lying, plots and schemes the relationships became extraordinarily toxic and no longer entertaining. Writers seemed stuck in an exercise wheel that turned endlessly exhausting the story long before the drama concluded. Some viewers may really like this story, but it was just okay and forgettable for me. No a rewatch or recommended

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No plot, just beautiful cinematography and confusion

omg.....if this isn't the most boring, plotless show i have ever seen. WHERE IS THE PLOT, WHERE IS THE STORY i swear it's just a bunch of shots of random things mostly and then a few scenes with the leads that don't make sense or barely have dialogue. like okay the cinematography is beautiful but thats the only good thing about this show. if u like art and nice visuals i guess its for u but other than that its just bland. Then also somehow the leads go from barely talking to being in a full on relationship without us seeing any type of relationship progress. It just feels like nothing about the characters lives and personalities was shown and the relationship seemed so abrubt.

I just found out its the same director that made Secrets Happened on the Litchi Island and which makes sense considering i also didn't enjoy that show cuz it was just a bunch of scenes of nothing and no plot. Maybe reading the novel would give more context and make the story and relationship progress less confusing but the show should've done that as well. The way I was so excited to watch this because of all the hype and good reviews too 💔.

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What a movie! Surreal, beautiful, hypnotic. After seeing this one (already among my all-time favourites) and Resurrection, Bi Gan is already among my top directors. The fact that he was so young when he did it (29 years old), is unbelievable; what an incredible talent!.

You don't know exactly what you are watching and trying to force a coherent narrative is futile, so if you are a person who needs these elements to enjoy a film, perhaps it's not the best option to choose from. But once the movie ends, it lingers with you and eventually it all makes perfect sense. I mean, perfect sense...and you'll be even more in awe.

It's about memory and dreams, and cinema. I don't want to give more details, because it will ruin the experience.

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Love is a matter of timing.

Only for those who have lived long enough. I prefer *In the Mood for Love*, but this one closes the story, and in that way, it has its own charm.

Poetic, more fragmented than his previous works. The fact that each character speaks in their own language (Japanese, Cantonese and Mandarin) and you get used to it as something normal is fantastic. As well as the acting.

You can see many things here that you find again in *Blossoms Shanghai*, even clearer than in *In the Mood for Love.* No surprise I loved the series, WKW did an amazing job evolving to that format and to the present day while keeping his signature and classic themes.

And on a final note, Wong Kar-wai's influence on Bi Gan, particularly in *Long Day's Journey into Night (2018),* is evident yet the latter brings his own personality. Of course I was going to like his portfolio too - perhaps even a bit more.

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Just my type, or whatever they said...

This was such a unique story, whoa. I'm not sure about the scientific/medical accuracy of it all, but as someone unrelated to that domain, I definitely enjoyed all the psychology/psychiatry stuff.

Something about this felt so laid back and natural, even though the story isn't what you would call "laid back," which, btw, was a huge surprise to me! I went into this expecting a romcom, and in a way, it was, but there was so much more to it. I think romcoms today got oversaturated and filled with trope after trope that I kind of subconsciously went into this expecting that same thing and was proven wrong...

I gave it a 9/10 but some scenes with her mother ragebaited me so bad that I genuinely considered dropping my rating lol. But it's very realistic if you think about it xD. There were actually several scenes that triggered me because I do not have the same compassion, patience, and/or tolerance that some of these characters have, and I do think that media that leaves you with very intense and polarized feelings can be good for you. To me, any story that makes me feel intense emotions (other than negative emotions towards the writers rather than the characters) is a good story.

Bring back romcoms with strange stories and polarizing characters :p

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Light but engaging.

The actual title, The Girl Who Sees Smells, didn’t appeal to me so I bypassed it for a long time. But then I started enjoying Namkoong Min’s dramas and decided to watch this one for him. I stayed for all the main leads.

Having recently finished some much more complicated, heavy dramas, TGWSS was an inviting, imaginative, enjoyable watch for me. A good drama to balance out my watch history lately, if you know what I mean. I found myself interested the entire time even binging a few too many episodes at a time.

Park Yoo Chun (Detective Choi) Shin Sae Kyeong (Oh Cho Rim) Nam-koong Min (Chef Kwon) and Yoon Jin-Seo (Lt. Yeom) all delivered very good performances. I was most impressed by PYC (my first drama with him) whom I believe stood out above the rest and I also felt he carried the whole drama. PYC and SSK had great chemistry - they had several truly funny and serious/tender moments together. SSK has a great acting range, delivering a fun and engaging Oh Cho Rim. It’s not my favorite role of his but NKM was a great sinister villain. He acts with his eyes so well. YJS was a no-nonsense but endearing Lt. Yeom, the kind of boss you want to do your best for.

I was somewhat disappointed in the supporting cast, their acting was not terribly convincing - I don’t think their humor always fit the story - comedy/drama detectives can and should be funny where the story needs it but also need to be on their (detective) game where it counts and I didn’t feel they ever truly delivered on the latter. That part gave me a dissatisfied feeling many times. Some of this criticism is on the writing and directing, too.

The OST fit the scenes and was not loud or overpowering.
I definitely recommend TGWSS for someone who is looking for a light but still intriguing Rom-Com/Mystery. However it’s not a drama would feel the need to rewatch.

8/10

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The Greatest Japanese Series Continues ...

Just by saying this is one of the greatest series I ever watched ... it doesn't explain how great it is. It's really difficult to put into words unless you watch it!!! This being the forth installment, you'd think it would start to lose its appeal. That couldn't be further from the truth. I think this may be the best one so far, and that's saying a lot, because the previous three were absolutely fantastic. If you didn't see the prequels, you may not totally appreciate this fourth part, but you'd still enjoy it as an extremely entertaining movie. It gives you great protagonists, wicked evil antagonists and lots of wonderful side stories in between.
I've always been an enormous fan of Kento Yamazaki, not just from this series, but from so many other great projects he's been involved with ... but this one by far, being his best work. He gives such a commanding performance as Shin, it's really incredible to watch. He makes it look easy, but you know it wasn't. Kento truly steals every scene he's in with his brilliant acting. Behind him is also an unbelievable supporting cast. Takao Osawa playing the mighty General Ohki and Ryo Yoshizawa as King Eisei lead the rest of the brilliant characters in this series.
It's an exhausting two and a half hours, because the excitement never slows from the very first minute right through to the end as the credits roll.
I think if I have to find one negative ..... it would be that we have to wait to see the continuation in Kingdom 5. Just the way part 4 ends, it leaves you with such anticipation for part 5 to begin.
Way to go Yamaken !!! Can't wait to see you bring back Shin again.

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