Reviews

this show was so fun and different!!

when I started this show I literally binged it. I stopped at episode 14 though and it took me months to finish it. I’m not sure why… the story is so interesting. I think they could’ve shortened the show by 2-3 episodes though. the characters were all very interesting and complex.
I had a major case of falling more in love with the second lead couple than the lead couple though. ?
I finally went back and finished it and I’m glad I did! this was a great drama!! not sure if it’s something I will rewatch—because I’m not sure if I’ll get the same emotions as before—but it’s definitely a drama worth watching!!

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I'm sorry for everyone involved

This show was so bad I couln't believe it. It had a really good cast, the premise was okay (if you really don't think too much about it), the couples were cute, but the storyline was a mess. Nothing made sense, all the plots were forced and badly developted, it seemed that the writers were writing the script on the set as they were filming because it was so inconherent.

I liked Jamie and Mond's chemistry, but their characters had problably the worst arc, up until that point it seemed like it was going to be a fun show to watch but then when the kidnapping happened everything went downhill. Jimmy and Punpun had the most believiable chemistry among the couples and their arc almost worked for me. Earth did a good job in it, as good as Earth can do, while they seemed to have the only arc the writers actually put some thought on, their build up was very lukewarm to be the will-they-won't-they couple of the show. Film and Joong had zero chemistry, should have stuck to just being siblings and Joong's character was a weirdo being babysat by his ex wife.

They clearly didn't need five couples, Aye and Toy's arc was fine even though it had no emotional impact that you would think it would have given the subjects it dealt with. But that's totally on the bad writing and questionable directing, even though I believe there is not much to be done when your actors are just saying things that have no emotional value and going through the most absurd situations for the sake of plot, no wonder the performances were underwhelming, while Aye and Namtan were trying their best, they didn't have much to work with.

This series didn't have a reason to be and I hope all the actors involved get better projects in their career.

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I’m going back to my old style of reviewing dramas for Snowfall, a vampire tale set in the Republican Era.

What I Liked:
--Vengo Gao-He was tailor made for the role of a suave, badass vampire.
--Gothic vibes-the dark exteriors and interiors were perfect for this story.
--Costumes-I loved all the velvet, especially Jing Xue’s wardrobe.
--Eternally winter-a great vampire setting. You never see vampires sipping Mai Thais on the beach. The Snowpiercer train ride through the frozen landscape also felt other-worldly.
--Ever present Snowman- I had hoped Frosty would have transformed into a snow monster but we can't have everything.
--Gold Crow-I’m a fan of the Corvus genus of birds though this avian actor was forgotten about much of the time.
--Non-romantic relationship for most of the drama-Based on Mi Lan’s childlike personality, there was definitely a maturity gap and vastly unequal power structure between her and Zhi Heng. Lovers don’t usually tell the other to “drink your milk.”


Neutral:
--CGI-Not great, but not a deal breaker for me
--Ending-spoilery comments after review
--The writers couldn’t use the word “vampire” or show them drinking blood but angry, biting, hair-pulling sex was all right. Mmmm…kay

What I didn’t like

--Zhi Heng written to be utterly stupid and inept in the opening salvo. This brutal scene had him acting completely out of character. They needed a set-up for him and Mi Lan to meet and to show his mostly indestructibleness but man it made him look less than powerful or intelligent.
--Anything that hinted at a romantic relationship. I don’t mind age gaps, but this was a maturity gap. Mi Lan was treated like a 12-year-old and acted like one for much of the drama.
--Terrible wigs-some of the wigs looked like roadkill.
--Both Liang and Situ weren’t written consistently and could give you whiplash with their back-and-forth emotions
--Liang’s plot armor-Zhi Heng could take on a jillion Shadow Warriors but somehow Liang always slipped through his fingers. Although he was always being beaten, shot, etc. Characters would also go into hiding and then come back into the open with no consequences.
--The magical stones element felt ill developed and clunky. Another demerit for censorship-it plays havoc with creativity.
--Wei Lian’s creepy walk on the dark side with Jing Xue

In conclusion:
❄Overall, I enjoyed this drama. It was a nice attempt at the vampire genre given all the restrictions and had a luxurious look. The costumes and settings may have been Republican Era but the drama felt more like a magical storybook which I quite liked. Far from perfect, yet also strangely addictive, Snowfall made for an interesting if fractured fairytale.❄

30 September 2024












Short spoiler below
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I didn’t mind the SE. It had been foreshadowed from the beginning. Since I didn’t care for any romance between the two main characters, I didn’t need the HE. The only thing I didn’t care for was the apparent deviation from the source material. Of the Republican Era and strictly historical dramas I’ve watched, the censors seem to prefer sad endings so I know going into these dramas the likelihood of the main couple living HEA is a low percentage. At least it didn’t come out of the blue and the story was headed in that direction from the beginning unlike other dramas where a disappointing ending is tacked on.

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It was the thought that counts.

This was a very quirky series that had some well-meaning intent. Unfortunately, the meaningful messages were not very well executed. On the positive side, the friendship development between all the characters was great. This series really suffered from a poor script quality and director choices. It was funny at times, but it was often mix in with a lot of cringy scenes. It gets a little better later on, but it then takes the old miscommunication story element to a ridiculous level. This also had a lot of random scenes used as filler screen time. Although it was great to see a character that identified as pansexual, they introduced key story points about Latte too late in the series. Because of this, the character came across as very unlikable in the first half of the series. The cast was great considering what they had to work with.

Random Note:

The English subtitles on GagaOOLala was not the greatest.

The flash forwards at the beginning of each episode were too gimmicky for me. I started to skip them completely after the 4th episode because it was very annoying. I understand they were trying to create dramatic interest, but it was not needed for a series attempting to be quirky and fun.

The scene in the last episode involving the main actors from “Monster Next Door” was cute.

The location used for Max’s apartment was the same one used in the “Bad Buddy” series (Pran and Pat’s apartment location).

I went in with low expectations and was happy it was not horrible. I don’t regret watching it, but I would not watch it again. I basically did because I was bored. That being said, this is one of those series you can wait to watch until you have some time to kill and have nothing better to see from your must watch list.

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Hopping Vampires!

I thought that I’d been led astray in my research of hopping vampire movies when I began Era of Vampires aka Vampire Hunters. The first creature of the night was a super powered blood sucking vampire that did not so much as hop, jump, or skip. Later on, my patience was rewarded when a whole herd of hoppers appeared. This was a low budget Hark Tsui produced film of which I expected more yet still found enough to keep my attention.

Be very, very quiet for Wind, Rain, Lightning, Thunder and their sifu Mao Shan are hunting a vampire. This mostly dead ex-general was juiced up and took exception to the vampire hunters. Many of the red shirt hunters were killed and Mao Shan was feared dead as well. Three months later the weather crew followed their vampire compass to the Jiang residence on the day of a wedding. The Jiangs were experts in making and using wax which led to some uber creepy goings on in a house where things didn’t just go bump in the night but also hopped and slithered. A secret stache of gold, a greedy brother-in-law, the Vampire King, the hunters, and the macabre household would all eventually collide in one gory mess.

This film had a very low budget look to it. The sets were simple but made to appear frightening with blue lighting and copious amounts of smoke masquerading as fog. The Vampire King was gruesome and buggy, no sexy fang banger here. Two of the humans did have time for some romance while running away from and fighting vampires. Even though there was some gore, the special effects were extremely low tech which took away much of the fear factor.

I didn’t recognize the Phoenix from Eternal Love TMOP at first. A young Ken Chang played Thunder and had the most screen time. Old martial arts movie star Chen Kuan Tai showed up as a Taoist corpse wrangler and set the hoppers loose at one point to distract the hunters while thieves sought out the golden treasure. He was even able to show his kung fu stuff in a short fight with one of the baddies. There were several wire-fu fights in dim lighting that weren’t as creative as I would have liked but were okay for this film.

Era of Vampires was more reminiscent of early kung fu films than films from the same timeframe. It had some intriguing moments and for this bargain basement niche mixed genre of martial arts and vampires it held its own.

30 September 2024

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One thing is missing: Better writers!

This show started out so good, the main plot was interesting, and the cast is amazing. So, what's wrong with this Kdrama?

I think, it was too big for the writers to handle.

This series is like a fast car with a bad driver. You have everything from the start, but you don't know what to do with it. So many plot holes, and honestly, without the cast, I'm not sure if I would finish it. The whole Big Mouth plot started out well, but the minute Changho take on the role, it was madness. The guy was basically the worst lawyer ever, he couldn't handle his own life without his wife Miho, yet after he was almost killed in prison, he became this smart leader who can outdo anyone. The biggest plot armor ever!

Not only that, I could accept this, because why not? But so many frustrating things happened. For example, no one gets punished, even tho Changho proved on a freakin' LIVE SHOW that they're guilty, they killed many people, that one guy killed his own ex-wife as well, yet no one mentioned it since.

The WORST part of the show is probably what they did with Miho. She was basically the only smart character, a NURSE, yet she's just casually walk in a mine or whatever was that, where she can see people in hazmat suit, and the whole thing was collapsed, yet she still wants to go there, because she thinks she's invincible.

I loved her character, BUT I didn't feel a single thing when she died. Why? Because the writers did a shit job! The problem isn't the fact that she dies, the problem is how she died. I mean, if you want to kill her, just kill her, but don't make her look like a smart woman who's making the biggest mistake that a nurse can make!

The last 2 episode was just nonsense! What the hell was that finale? How on Earth Changho managed to poison the water, and why Doha died so fast? The same goes for Miho, btw, because every other patient who died, they lived for months, yet she died after a couple of days.

Even tho I liked the show, I just can't stand lazy writing. They wasted so much time on meaningless things, but ignored important parts of the story, and they finished off the whole thing in 5 minute, basically.

This show could've been the next a Flower of Evil, but the only one who deserve a flower is the cast, and everyone who finished the whole show.

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Like many of us, I've watched En of Love first and Love Mechanics 2022 second. Recently I've rewatched both versions and thought I'll write a review.

First of all, 4 episodes are way too short, but it could've been done way way better. There are a lot of time skips making this short time really chaotic and hard to understand. Main characters feelings don't feel genuine because we don't see much interactions between them. It's hard to tell how much time passed between one scene and another. Vee is obsessed with Mark without any reason and is annoying him, Mark is mad, but then one second later he's not mad. It's hard for me, viewer, to understand why they could be magically in love. Giving most of the plot in posts or videos on social media is also pretty easy way to deliever something. Too easy. It just looks like our characters are always scrolling and refreshing homepage of some social media app and that's how their whole day goes by. It just doesn't feel real.
Even this one stupid detail like the fact that Vee is spending time in Ploy's room that is beside Mark's isn't explained that well in the first scenes in my opinion (or maybe it's translating issue?).

After watching 2022 version, I actually did like the story. It wasn't the best, but with cast and enough time, it was nice watch. And this makes me hate this version even more. Honestly, I feel like these two versions are adapting two different stories and definitely would say, skip this one, it's bad.

There are two thing that make these 4 (or maybe 3,5) episodes good for me, music and War's acting. I feel like War Wanarat can make any show look good. It was I think his second main role in drama, but it already was pretty solid. He can make really small changes in his expression and still show viewer what the character is feeling. I would say it was one of his weakest performances, but still, my eyes couldn't look at anything else than his facial expressions.

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Short, pleasant series, without pretension other than having a good time.

Highly rated isekai (with Joseph Zeng)

PLOT: The FL, needing money, agrees to be a beta tester of an immersive VR game. She finds herself in a historical era, in a family of farmers, mistreated by her grandparents and aunts and uncles. She saves the injured ML (who flees the officials) but he helps her escape from a "sacrificed widow" marriage. She will do everything to earn money (her mission) while the ML tries to foil a conspiracy.

+++ Very well played, lots of complex but endearing characters.
+++ Effective, lively production
+++ Consistent story, quite realistic
+++ Very nice OST.

### More family than romantic, with few OTPs.

=> short, pleasant series, without pretension other than having a good time.
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ICK bien noté (avec Joseph Zeng)

PLOT: La FL, ayant besoin d'argent, accepte d'être bêta testeuse d'1 jeu en VR immersif. Elle se retrouver dans une époque historique, dans une famille de fermiers, malmenée par les gds-parents et oncles & tantes. Elle sauve le ML blessé (qui fuit les officiels) mais l'aide à échappant à 1 mariage de "veuve sacrifiée". Elle va tout faire pr gagner de l'argent (sa mission) pdt que le ML essaie de déjouer une conspiration.

+++ Très bien joué, bcp de personnages complexes mais attachants.
+++ Réalis° efficace, vive.
+++ Story cohérente, assez réaliste
+++ OST très agréables.

### Plus familial que romantique, avec peu d'OTP.

=> série courte, agréable, sans prétention autre que passer 1 bon moment.

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Watch this if you want to be frustrated for 90% of the runtime after a few episodes.

First off the grandma is an evil cartoony villain and most of the supporting characters are just her henchmen catering to her every whim.

I have only gotten to the 15th episode while skipping through the last 4. Dropping this show because its just too damn frustrating, the grandma wanting to keep her promise of marriage from more than 20 years ago to a guy she met for like one hour is already bad, but her schemes and faking cancer to get them married is just evil. The show portrays her as kinda silly and lovable? but she is EVIL.
The female lead started out ok, she had a bit of spunk and was strong willed, not budging on selling her childhood home, and then she turned into a rag for the whims of the family and plot. She was trying to be a lawyer, but failed the bar exam 5 times cause she missed it for numerous reasons, then like a slap in the face to the viewer she gets pregnant (the pregnancy is fine) and in the last episode she misses the exam again by going into labour infront of the exam building (i just skimmed through the last episode).
The male lead was honestly whatever for me, kinda typical rich kid exec in a soap trying to make his family happy.
The other characters are kinda annoying too, though the ML sister started out ok, she became part of the cancer scheme, so she get lost.
Honestly, its probably like 4, but the granma and the last episode bring it down to 1.5.

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Healing thought provoking slow burn drama

The adage that things come into your life when you need them is true with this drama for me. The characters and messages are deep and meaningful. If you are looking for the typical drama, this probably isn’t for you but if you have the patience to move at a slower pace you will be richly rewarded. The best part for me were the journals at the end of each episode and the final journal during the closing credits was profound. The casting was excellent and the OST is lovely. The characters had depth and maturity. I rewatched the final journal at least 5 times to savor it and let it really sink in to my soul.

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Some kilig moments. Some sexy moments. Some emotional moments.

I have not seen the other series in this shared universe nor have I read the Wattpad story this has been adapted from so I went in without knowing any of the characters or the plot other than what I read from the synopsis. It did not disappoint. Was it anything special or original? I can't say it was. However, I enjoyed the characters the development of the leads' relationship. Nothing felt draggy and both mains are very nice to look at.

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● SHORT REVIEW
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LIKES:
--Luna and Kalix are both good, likable characters with their own goals/dream. Luna's friend group and Kalix's guy friends were also very good friends to the leads.
--I liked how the series set the expectation at the beginning with how they tell the narrative. From the first episode, we already know something was going to happen to their relationship as it tells us the love story via flashback because we see they are not together in the present day. So the major breakup that happens is no surprise.
--I enjoyed watching the buildup of their romance as well the emotional breakdown of their relationship.

DISLIKES:
--Kalix's mom change of heart and attitude towards the end felt rushed just so our couple could have a perfect ending. I know 10 years is a long time and she probably could've grew in that time, but the problem was that even when we meet her again initially after all that time, she was still being rude when they were visiting the house. So while it's plausible she decided to chill and stop giving Luna a hard time, I wished the series did a better job at portraying it.

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● IN-DEPT REVIEW
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[ --STORY/PLOT-- ]

I want to say both Luna and Kalix are very likable character. Luna is bubbly, bold, funny, and more outgoing. Kalix is quieter and calmer, but very respectful, responsible, and sincere. They both good and talented people with their own goals and dream. However, they are not perfect characters. If they were, we wouldn't have drama or conflict. However, their flaws are understandable, at least, to me. They each played a role in the downfall of their relationship.

Luna is very quick to judge and jump to conclusions, assuming the worst about Kalix before letting him to explain. However, as frustrating as that is, I wasn't annoyed by Luna because I get it. Trauma and fear can be so irrational that even talking and listening takes courage. She has been cheated on and hurt before. She was already feeling insecure with what Kalix's mother had said to her before, so now, with everything going on with Kierra and school, emotions piled up. When we are overwhelmed, sometimes our emotions become our worst enemy. Kalix also didn't fight hard enough to tell her the truth before Luna found out about the kiss. He was not completely honest as he did not tell the truth about Amy kissing him as soon as it happened. Instead, he let it drag out far too long until it was too late and it eventually blew up in his face when there was already a lot of other things happening.

Life gives us rocks to carry, some of which are heavy. We become focused and concerned on trying to carry our own rocks that sometimes we don't see that others are struggling with the weight of their own rocks. When we do notice, we may want to help add some of their load onto ours. Or we see that they are already carrying a lot and don't want to worry or burden them with ours. Luna was trying to take care of Kierra and school while Kalix was trying to take care of Kio and school. Luna's and Kalix's romance ultimately ended because they each were carrying a lot. The misunderstanding was really heartbreaking to see, but it's also very understandable. The buildup to the breakup was done well.

[ --ACTING/CAST-- ]

All very attractive actresses and actors, especially Heaven and Marco. Also very talented. I very much enjoyed the leads' emotional scenes. . I also enjoyed the characterization of the characters. I think my only note would be some of the line delivery. I don't know what exactly it was, but sometimes, the delivery felt not so natural? Especially from Kalix. Or maybe it was the lines themselves that felt a little cheesy. I'm not sure. Regardless, I would be happy to see more from all the actors. I already plan to watch the other series in this universe, but I hope to see more work from them.

[ --MUSIC/OST-- ]

My favorite part about watching a series is discovering new music. While I haven't seen a lot of Filipino series, I've always been a fan of their OSTs. It helps me find new music, discover new artists, and grow my Filipino playlist. The series had a lot of great soundtracks. I added the entire EP to my playlist because I loved all the songs. They also worked well in the series, helping to enhance the emotions and story overall. There were also songs not on the EP that I was interested in as a music enthusiasts, but I'm so glad there are others other who have created playlists with the songs so they were not hard to find.

[ --REWATCH VALUE-- ]

While I enjoyed watching this, I'm not sure if this is something I'd watch again on my own. Maybe I'll watch it with my girlfriend if she's interested in this. It has its moments, I liked the characters, and the story was good. It's also only 10 episodes, so it's definitely rewatchable but idk if there was really anything special that I would want to go back on my own to see again. It was great watching it for the first time but not something that leaves me with a great enough impression that I'd want to come back for more.

[ --FINAL THOUGHTS-- ]

The words people say can hurt us, but sometimes the unsaid words are also just as hurtful, either to ourselves or to others. This series illustrates the importance of communication. I don't have much other to say other than that this was a great series with some mature conversations, even if some of them happened too late. Conversations that come late are better than conversations that never come at all. Even if it was too late to fix anything, at the very least, it would bring closure and peace of mind. In this case though, we still got our happy ending. After seeing this, I am super interested in seeing Yanna's story and Sevi's story in the other related series.

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● NOTE
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I'll always conclude my review by saying that ratings and reviews is not really a indicator of whether you may enjoy something. We all have different criteria and standards. Don't let a bad rating, review, or comment discourage you from watching something. My advice will always be to give something a chance if the premise interests you, and only use the ratings/reviews to determine priority if you have a list, or if you're deciding if you want to continue it due to time limitations.

♥ Thanks for reading my review! Feel free to comment or hit me up if you want to discuss anything ♥

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the s1 could have been enough

nonsensical plot, as Netflix has accustomed us, loves to profit from products that have received great interest. they do not explain anything of what happened in the time between s1 and s2, people who transform, people who do not transform, people who cannot repress their instincts and others who instead seem Superman. infected who heal their wounds others who remain scarred. all this without a minimum of explanation and further detail. the characters are not explored in the slightest. everything always and only happens in the name of love. the only positive note, there are only 7 episodes

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Raw, brutal, horrific and proof that beauty can be found in the darkest place

This drama is far from your regular BL and will take you on a brutal journey as the characters are evolving in the darkest side of the night life of Shinjuku. The story is very heavy and gritty in addition to be totally immersive: once you start, it is both very complicated to continue because of the violence but at the same time as difficult to stop watching. There are a lot of exploration in the psyche of the characters and I was deeply invested in the storytelling. It was in overall well paced, I only wish there had been a bit more time to wrap up the ending.

The acting was overall very good: I found it pretty balanced between the two male leads and there were no obvious weak link among the cast. Maybe the way that some of the heavier material was played could have been improved but I found it was mostly a convincing emotional portraying.

There is an inherent indie feeling to the production that I enjoyed a lot. The various locations were very interesting and well-filmed: wether it is the Shinjuku night life as well as the other places the characters are going to. I enjoyed as well the opening song, very fitting for the series.

I would recommend this drama to people that are looking for a dark story. Be mindful of the triggers, there are a lot of abuse, violence. It is a super impactful story, not necessarily that rewatchable to me because of how gut-wrenching it is. You need to be strong to go through the horror but at the same time the moments of beauty and love that can be found are worth the brutal journey.

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