Reviews

Based more on the original poem/story of Mulan than Disney version. She does join the army in place of her father, but we see how it affects her. She deals with death and grief and fear and killing. We get the real Mulan that went to war for over a decade.

This a realistic movie, slightly dark tone because there is a lot of death, but it's the kind of movie that hurts so good. You will cry and then continue crying but you won't end up feeling depressed or sad. The story is fulfilling as we get to see Mulan grow and accept life as a soldier and the many different ways there are to be a hero. Vicki Zhou is wonderful as Mulan, and we don't spend a lot of time with the other characters, but we don't really need it. This is Mulan's story and it reflects that in the screen time given to our other characters. The music really helps finish the atmosphere.

There are parts that really got to me where I was sobbing but the situations were caused by war and so our characters have to deal with it. They act nobly and I was completely satisfied until the very end. As long as you don't question how they never notice she is a girl, you'll enjoy it.

I know I will end up watching it again. For when you feel like crying this is a great option. Hua Mulan truly transforms and even if you know how it ends you can still appreciate the sacrifices of our characters. I know the same scenes will still effect me in the same way.

A bit spoilery but not if you know the story of Mulan. The original version has her just returning home. This plot has a romance but they forced it into a bad ending. They continued on the noble character arc for Mulan where she just wants to take care of her father. Again this is the writers fault for wanting the dramatic hero, but it fits with the characters even though the other option would have been possible. So, I was a bit irritated, but for the sake of a better story it fits to have the drama, but I was annoyed because they built it up and left me hanging.

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The thing I appreciate the most about Japanese shows in general, is that they can tell a good story without much of an eventful plot to build it upon. They play with narrative style and they excel in delicacy.

I'm not implying Saikou no Jinsei has got no plot, but it's not the kind one would run to watch and sit through with bathed breath. This is the story of a family, of their little and big trials. But most of all it tells of what it means to shoulder responsibility for the people we care for.
I may just as well confess that I started this because I wanted to stare at Yamapi. He's a pleasure for the eye in general, but there's a tangible improvement in his acting skill too. I grew very fond of him and all the main characters. I like it when details and hints are rationed slowly, because that's what happens in real life too: we are presented with a family picture, and bit by bit we are offered glimpses of who they are and where they are going.

The whole cast did a brilliant job, and I found myself with moisture in my eyes more than once. I was impressed by Yamashita's ability to convey his feelings here, and I was entertained by his relationship with both his family and Yuki-chan. It also amazes me that I managed to laugh a lot more often than what is expected by the general atmosphere.

I didn't like the music at all. Not only it isn't my cup of tea, I also thought it was very unfitting now and then. Luckily though, it does not overpower the dialogues or the scenes, and it can therefore be overlooked.

Rewatch value is not too high, but if you like family dramas and touching plots, you may give this one a try.

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I wanted to watch this because of Seung Ho even tho the plot seemed intriguing it wasnt the main reason why I wanted to watch it. I AM SO GLAD I WATCHED IT!! It's a movie that makes you think about people with disability and introduces various emotions through the acting and music. It touches the problems with society and I really enjoyed it!! MUST WATCH!

Story: for me the story was really different and unique. A blind person's testimony versus a normal person's testimony. Which do you trust? I felt the story was really well written. It was intense, exciting, heartwarming and thrilling. I loved and hated the baddie at the same time because he was beautifully performed but what he did was creepy, chilling and ever so hateful!

Acting: The dog alone should get an Oscar, she was just brilliant and beautiful! Once again Seung Ho shows us his brilliant acting skills, although he has played a troubled teen before the acting and character he played this time was different and I thoroughly enjoyed watching his character grow. Also the chemistry with Ha Neul worked well. Standing ovation for Ha Neul tho! She did an excellent job, you felt her pain and sadness plus her fear. She did a really good job - in You're My Pet she didnt realy stand out and her character was a bit flat so in this movie I was really impressed!! The acting was really touching I cried many times throughout the whole film. The acting really pulls you in and I thought the actors did an excellent job in expressing the emotions and it sucked me into that world. Before I knew it I was rooting for the leads, becoming really protective of the characters (I wanted to kill the stalker myself!!) so if a film has such effect it's bound to be good. 

Casting: there was no problem with the casting I thought everyone was perfect for the role. And as i mentioned earlier Ha Neul didnt seem fit at first but she pulled the role off really well. 

Music: the music accompanied each scene perfectly. It effectively made the scenes tense and thrilling, sad and heartbreaking. The music made me on the edge of my seat and at the same time curl up in my duvet because it was frightening plus the acting I felt like I was part of it. 

Overall: I would definitely watch this again. It provokes a variety of emotions pulling you into the movie. The acting was superb and the story was well written and developed. The only downside would be the ending, I loved the ending but I would have liked to see more! 

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You know a drama's good when it makes you cry. You know it's excellent when it turns you into a snivelling wreck every single episode. Thus, my main issue with Mother was what it cost me in Kleenex.

The most devastating thing about this drama (and there are a fair few to choose from) is that you know there's no way it can end happily. It's very premise sets it up to have at best a bittersweet ending.It is extremely well written in this respect, and believable throughout. I found myself truly invested in the characters and the storyline, desperately hoping both Nao and Reina could find safety and happiness on a more permanent basis than constantly being on the run.

I would now spend a paragraph picking apart the faults of this drama, except I'm rather convinced it doesn't have them. Everything from the acting (Ashida Mana may have become my favourite child actor of all time through this drama) to the movie-esque quality to the filming records it down as a must-watch in my book. It truly is once watched, never forgotten.

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If I could some this drama up in one word it would be 'meh'. Boys before flowers isn't that special, it was kinda disapointing to be frank. Yes the actors were brilliant but the storyline lacked spark.

I'll start with the storyline, it was ok at the beginning and good through the middle but the end was an anti-climax and a half. The ammount of cliches in this show is annoying, I've seen it all before. I haven't seen any other adaptions of this show and since watching Boys Before Flowers I don't think I will. It was average at best.

However the actors in this show, particulary Lee Min Ho and Kim Hyun Joong were awesome. Each and every emotion was potrayed brilliantly and had this show a better storyline it would have easily got a ten. I liked the different styles of acting and personalities that each character brought, even the minor ones. Plus they're all nice eye candy.

The music in this show made it worth watching. I loved the soundtrack and plan to buy every song that I possibly can from it. A nice mix of classical and pop that fitted each mood. Very very good music in this show.

In the end I would reccomend watching it so long as your not one of those people who like to pick wholes in every detail. Its easy-going and makes for an enjoyable watch. But it's not life-changing or addictive. And you probably won't watch it again.

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Busu no Hitomi ni Koishiteru starts out a fantastic drama. Its premise appears a little typical - the "ugly" girl having the "hot" guy fall for her - but this drama has a sincerity to it that's often lacking. The female lead, Miyuki, isn't the typical glamour model type who has simply been given old fashioned clothes and a dodgy hairstyle to make her a "busu". She genuinely is an average lady, whose charms lie more in her personality than her looks. I liked this aspect of the show a lot. It can be frustrating to be regaled with how ugly a character supposedly is when the actress or actor who plays them clearly wouldn't look out of place on the front cover of Vogue.

For the first few episodes, Busu no Hitomi had everything for me. The characters were built to be very likable and human, and there were lots of laugh-out-loud funny moments. However, after these introductory episodes, things started to go a little awry and I found the character's actions and motivations less and less easy to understand as they strayed further from those core values exhibited at the beginning. By the end, I had little emotional investment left in any of them, and the drama just kind of petered out for me with a lackluster, and laboured, ending.

Overall, I wouldn't say this drama was bad, per se. It had a lot of potential, and it was just frustrating that it wasn't realized and optimized. If the characters could have been more consistent, with the story having less complete u-turns and need to throw in unnecessary and often confusing conflict, I would have scored it much higher. As it is, I'd consider it worth watching, and I'm glad I did, but it's probably better to go in without hopes raised too high by how good it appears to be at the beginning.

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Plot: The special “Fukunaga VS Yokoya” transmits the same surrealistic and mysterious vibes as its prequels due to the use of the original OST and setting.
The game itself is sufficient to mildly entertain you for an hour but it’s not up to Liar Game standards.

The main problem revolves around the question who’s going to take the lead now that Akiyama’s gone. In the first third of the special close attention is paid to Fukunaga, but later both protagonists are depicted the same, distant way, which let’s the question arise:
Why would I care?
With nobody to sympathise with left the tension drops quickly.

Actors/Characters: Yokoya doesn’t appear as mystical and especially reserved a character as in previous episodes as the entire special spotlights only upon him and Fukunaga.
Suzuki Kazuma acts well but keeps up a surreal feeling thanks to his unnatural white hair, x-ray eyes and choice of clothes.

Mushroom/Fukunaga is as crazy and cunning as ever and Kitamura Soichiro’s performance is satisfying.

Music: ¡Estupendo! The original Liar Game tracks are outstanding and magnetising as ever.

Rewatch value: None. Unless you are either having troubles following the story’s progress or enjoy watching the special from a different perspective.

To make it short: It’s an agreeable but unnecessary supplement that’s mildly entertaining but lacks the originality and cleverness of the original series starring Matsuda Shota.

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After finishing this drama I'm sad to see it go. I know some people (from what I've read) didn't start liking this show until later on in the episodes because they found the beginning to be boring. I didn't. I've been wanting to watch something with Yoo Seung Ho for a while and when I heard about this drama I just had to give it a try. I've never seen the Jversion, but I've heard that this version is a lot different (doesn't surprise me much because Korean remakes tend to be different). I loved it! Everything about it. I found myself rooting for Baek Ho on his journey and this drama left me feeling a lot of different things. Each week I found myself falling more and more into the story and before I knew it, I was even looking forward to it more than Shut Up Flower Boy Band - I just had to know what was going to take place next.

This drama frustrated me so much, everything Baek Ho tries to do, it seems to go in another direction. I think I must enjoy dramas that frustrate me, because the drama makes me feel so much and by the end, I feel that I've travelled so far with these characters, they've been through so much and it feels like a lifetime happened in a short amount of time.

The acting was terrific! Yoo Seung Ho is a child actor himself, so you know he's had a history of acting and he really pulled off the character of Baek Ho. I definitely want to watch more with him, he's going to make it far in acting. Park Eun Bin also did a really good job. I loved her as Yi Seul, and the chemistry between her and Yoo Seung Ho was good as well. All of the acting was good.

I loved the friends. Tae Nam's love for Chae Ri and Jin Joo's love for Chan Wook. The side stories with them were sweet and nice.

There were parts I found myself wondering if they forgot to show something, as something had happened earlier and it felt like they had forgotten it - but every time I thought that it wound up showing up later on in the right moment.

The music was nice. All along I loved it as the music for the drama, and I kept thinking I probably wouldn't listen to it outside of the drama but I find myself listening to the songs in the back of my head. I guess I grew to really like them with each episode.

Rewatch value...I definitely can see myself watching this again sometime. Not for a while - plus I want to watch the Japanese version as well to compare.

Overall, if you liked the Jversion I dunno if you'll like this one. And if you didn't like the Jversion then maybe you'll like this one better. This drama pulled me in and I'm sad to see it's already ended. There's a lot of drama, love, and frustrating moments that make you wonder how exactly this drama is going to end like.

I kept thinking the whole time that the drama was going to end on a different note - but at the same time I knew I was wrong. I almost gave this drama a full 10 but there were a few parts that I felt could've been done a little differently, so I gave it a 9 instead. But I do think this drama has fallen into my favorites (:

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I just finished the series, so there are still some lingering feelings here, but i will try to be fair! :D

Plus:
Yoo Seung Ho: I admit that he is the main reason why i started to watch it. An eye candy and a great actor. You like him, than watch this drama!No further reasons needed!;)
the cast in general: I just love the actors! They are never awkward to watch or all over the place. The chemistry between them is amazing, especially between the two main actors. You really get the feeling of watching friends having fun and not some actors taking part in a drama.
the story: Even if it`s lacking sometimes and they are some few inconsistencies, the idea is sweet and refreshing. Of course there are some typical, clicheed story lines which you know from other series or remind you of it. But seriously, it´s not easy to reinvent the wheele, especially when it comes to the script of romatic-dramatic series. But still it managed to give you the impression of something new and interesting.
kissing scenes: You are bored and annoyed of the normal smacks, you always get to see? Not here. You want some chemistry and "real" kissing, here you go.
the end: I really loved the ending. It made up for ALL the bad points. The last three episodes alone are a reason to (re-)watch it. Really well done. A total turning point and it changed my opinion of the drama completly!

Minus:

It was dragging too much at some points. Which is kind of annyoing, because there are so many things to tell and they just don`t do it. At some moments you felt like cheewing way too long on the same cheewing gum.
I think they could have focused a bit more on the supporting actors. It felt like that there was something missing.
But besides that, worth to watch. Ah, i never know how to rate the rewatch factor. Because, for me it´s kinda hard to watch a series again when i already know the ending.

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The first time I tried watching this I was really new to dramas. I didn’t know anyone in the cast and at that time I was in that “I only watch good looking actors” mentality. After watching one episode I dropped because I thought the main actor (Lee Bum Soo) was weird looking and the main actress was too plain. Its been a while since then and in that time I have become fond of Lee Bum Soo after watching Giant & Salaryman (must watches!) and decided I would watch his past dramas, giving this one a second go…

Story- Your typical medical drama. Every episode there are cases and different patients. Half way in I got tired of seeing every patient consultation and all the surgeries. They show all the surgeries for all the patients so it got to be too repetitive for me and therefore I fast-forwarded through those parts. What I enjoyed most is the interactions between the hospital staff and more of their personal story arcs. To me, that was worth watching it to the end. The main romance wasn’t the best because the main actress didn’t have any chemistry with LBS. She actually didn’t have any chemistry with the other main guy either. So the love triangle was a fail for me. The ending was nice.

Acting/Cast- I loved the main guys. They are actors I usually follow so I was happy to see them both. The main actress did a fantastic job in 49 Days but here she kind of held back I think in this one. It also didn’t help that her character annoyed me at times. I loved the other 3 residents. Their love triangle was fun to watch. The other supporting cast did a great job.

Music- I didn’t like the music at all and it really was distracting. A few songs fit, but most of the music was random and not needed.

Rewatch- the episodes fly by fast and it was never boring so it is rewatchable but it’s not something I need to see again.

Overall Surgeon Bong Dal Hee isn’t a drama that needs to be watched unless you’re a fan of anyone in the show but if you do end up watching , its not a bad drama to waste some hours.

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