Reviews

Could've been better

As a massive fan of Liu Tao, I love watching her previous works, and I was especially excited to watch this show because she and Bao Yi Fan had such great chemistry in Ode to Joy (though I didn't really like the storyline). I was expecting a sizzling chemistry between the leads based on the cover image, but the storyline was far from that. However, the show really allowed Liu Tao to showcase her acting skills as a veteran in the industry.

I was so frustrated with the male lead that I couldn't overlook his flaws despite some of his redeeming qualities. The female lead was depressed and suicidal, yet whenever she confronted the male lead, all she got was him saying that he suffered just as much, if not more. It was so sad that she didn't get the help, support, and understanding she needed from her husband and family. I hope no one ever meets a husband like him in real life.

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wished it was better

After struggling to power through this series, I can see why it has such a low rating lol. There are some top tier actors in this series so I really expected it to be a lot better. This wasn't produced very well. All past "history" scenes should have been in the first episode and not scattered throughout the series. It made it really boring and irritating to watch since it would be inserted during action and climax scenes. The wigs in this show were awful. You could totally tell they were wigs, and not even the good kind.

I hate the fact that they "killed" off Ogwi. Even though he may not be really dead given the end scene but I'm thinking he will probably come back evil. The ripping of his wings was sad/uncomfortable to watch :( All the past angels were resurrected and alive but they killed off one of the best main characters? Doesn't make sense.

Also, given how S1 turned out... I doubt there will be much hype/anticipation about a possible S2 coming out.

I love the fact that Park Hyung Sik played an anti hero role! It's such a nice change from his usual happy/funny romcoms. I love his acting in those upbeat romcoms though, he's one of my favorite actors!!

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The show is good but the way they showed yaksha as someone demonic is not true according to hindu and buddhist teachings yashaa is someone who protects nature, represents life, fertility also he is the gatekeeper of heavenly realm he is under the king kubera (god of wealth). Yangyang acting and fl acting is so good but tbh im drawn to the acting of second ml. He is such a versatile actor . Some people are saying there are dropping from 12 or 13 but honestly u should watch further to understand ml perspective he is not only fighting for girls justice but also against the whole group of corrupted leaders which is deeply rooted in the city ofcoarse he should kill them but not secretly rather in public aka among common folks with their bashing and curses and humilitiation for lyf is what they deserve not simple death.

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The truth will set you free

The Scarecrow proves to be a really well made noir murder mystery with the performances, from the entire cast, being its strongest point.

I can’t say this is a kdrama anyone can watch as it’s deeply frustrating and infuriating. Especially when you know it’s based on real events.

Unlike the famous Bong Joon-ho film, this kdrama flips the story and delivers a first hand account on what the victims of this case went through at the hands of the police and prosecution. Even decades after the events.

There’s no justice in this story, even when the truth comes out. The pain lives on as a open wound, festering, leaving those who had to go through this terrible experience changed forever. The good are broken down by guilt and the weight of responsibility, the bad get away with murder for too long.

Still, the final scene let us know there’s hope for healing. The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.

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Light and chill. A healing show.

I could not believe how short this show was at only six episodes. I was surprised when it ended so quickly.

Anyway, this is the definition of a healing show. The cast is small and it's well acted. The story is grounded, focusing on two individuals who end up living together and gradually come to rely on each other to overcome their trauma. The show is rather light, aside from the male lead’s reason for being on the island. It even features long, extended cooking segments, complete with glamorous shots of the food they make from the ingredients they obtain through free diving. It’s light on the romance, but it’s good enough. More like a simple crush.

It’s well shot, and the color grading is nice. While it’s not a show I would immediately recommend placing at the top of your watch list, it’s enjoyable enough if you’re looking for a break from heavy dramas.

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I have extremely mixed feelings after watching this drama. I really liked the premise of the story, and I genuinely enjoyed the first episodes. However, as time went on, things started getting worse, and unfortunately the last two episodes only proved that.

I’ll start with the relationship between the main couple — Yun Jin A & Seo Jun Hui — because this is where I think the concept of the story was genuinely very strong. I enjoyed watching their dynamic, where he showed her what real love actually looks like, while she regained this kind of youthful joy for life thanks to him. The subplot involving his sister/her best friend also had huge potential in the background. But over time, the whole story started losing its charm in my eyes. At certain points, I felt so damn sorry for Jun Hui, who was constantly treated like sh*t by almost everyone, who kept chasing after her and instantly forgiving every mistake she made, while even she sometimes treated him like a child. But at least back then they still stood by each other. It got even worse in the final episodes. Their breakup happened completely off-screen — suddenly we jump to her brother’s random wedding, and she already has a new boyfriend. Then we randomly find out she’s moving to Jeju Island, and just as randomly she’s single again. After that, things somehow became even worse: we got the scene of them getting back together. Don’t get me wrong — it’s not that them reuniting was bad. The problem is that we got that one scene… and that was it. Her mother still doesn’t accept him and is proud that the relationship ended. We also never saw his sister’s reaction, and I highly doubt she would’ve been happy about it. It honestly feels like the story just went full circle, and they would still be stuck dealing with the exact same circus as before.

The whole storyline with her family also feels extremely absurd to me. A 35-year-old woman is treated like a child here. She’s afraid of her parents — parents who aren’t even powerful or influential — and allows them to walk all over her life instead of cutting them off. Overall, the mother is an incredibly st*pid and unbearable character. She supported two toxic relationships where her daughter was miserable just because those men came from influential families. Who cares that one cheated on her and the other barely gave a damn about her. Meanwhile, she was ready to burn the world down when her daughter got together with a genuinely good guy who actually made her happy, because what? His mother died and his father was weak? Just thinking about it makes my blood boil. The only normal member of that family was the younger brother, whom I actually liked. The father was tolerable sometimes, but he also had plenty of moments where he was unbearable.

As for his family, I still don’t understand why Seo Jun Hui’s anger was portrayed as something wrong. In my opinion, he had every right to be furious with her. He’s a grown man who has the right to make decisions about his own life, and meanwhile she secretly plots with his father behind his back — a father who spent most of the drama not giving a damn about his family. Then she forces Jun Hui to say goodbye to him at the airport, basically emotionally blackmailing him using their relationship. It was an absolute circus and another major negative for me. On top of that, this storyline completely disappeared afterward. What happened to his father after that? Did he try to repair his relationship with his children? Or did everything just go back to normal, with him continuing not to care about them at all? I did see his sister as one of the better characters though — honestly probably the smartest person in the entire drama. It’s just a shame we never got a romantic storyline for her, because it could have been a really nice change of pace.

The workplace h*rassment storyline is another plot point that I think was genuinely very good and really engaging to watch. I was genuinely excited to see how it would develop. The search for evidence, the scheming, the tension — it was genuinely interesting. The problem is that this storyline was also ruined by those final two episodes… In the end, we basically learned NOTHING about how the case actually turned out. The scenes make it look like she lost, while the dialogue says she won XD. What consequences did those pathetic as*holes face? That’s what I wanted to know. She literally had evidence — there’s no way she realistically could have lost that case. It’s not like the court wouldn’t figure out that the men’s “evidence” was photoshopped. On top of that, Kang Se Yeong is still casually working there even though she literally conspired with the h*rasser. I was really hoping all of that would come out and that we’d get a proper resolution, but absolutely nothing got resolved and I’m incredibly disappointed. And these were storylines that lasted through most of the drama, only to get completely watered down in the end.

The last thing I want to mention is her ex-boyfriend — Lee Gyu Min. Why did we never find out what happened to him afterward? Is he seriously just walking around freely after stalking her, se*ually h*rassing her in the café, and literally trying to k*ll her? Why was that never followed up on? The drama completely forgot about him, even though he played a major role through half the series and absolutely deserved prison. They forgot about him so hard that I forgot about him too and only remembered him just now XD

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dont get me started on this show

oh boi where do i start this show is the definition of me yes i have to watch at least a couple episodes a day to get through the day yes i have the english subtitles memorized for how many times i have watched it fadel style is my everything theyre my favorite bl pairing ever and played my my kings joongdunk this show made me love joongdunk more than ever styles is such a cutie eheheheheheh and kantbison penguin have brought me tears ahhhhh heheheheheuhiofbiooeb i love them so much oh and i love styles dad #weneededmoreofthatdiva lilly lowkey always pmo but thats ok my favorite episode is ep6 ep8 and ep10 OMG AND OLD FART love that guy omg and the soundtrack i listen to every day fast love is my theme song i dont even speak thai and i know it word for word and yes hurt me please and never back down makes me sad and lowkey cry dont read the book though chat it aint that good but i still read it all the time cause i spent a lot of money on it

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First Impression: ChermChay

Overall: Tutor & Yim deserve better. 10 episodes about 40 minutes each. Airing on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/7399/chermchey-2026-e01

Content Warnings: intimate partner violence (not between the leads), violence/punches, blood

What I Like
- Tutor & Yim
- color grading
- that he said he was willing to try in episode 2

Room For Improvement
- no idea why they went with an over the top comedy but the sound effects are terrible and it doesn't work as a comedy
- constantly cutting out before NC scenes when we all know Tutor and Yim would be amazing
- the bottle hit was a bit much in ep 1
- when a character said he was hit by his then boyfriend the response was "why didn't you fight back"

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Don’t let the ratings fool you

I don’t write reviews but I feel the comments from most viewers got me shaking my head through out this drama.
Thankfully after watching a short online clip I popped in here & only read another positive review before starting this.
I wanted to leave a comment but what I wanted to say is obviously too long so I’m leaving it here in review.

First off this drama’s main genre tag is Business… why anyone would expect a housewife of 10 yrs that got cheated on then somehow developed low self esteem & had nothing to her name with a sh*tty family to have complete confidence in herself is just nonsense.
These comments about her character I feel needed to review her starting point.
It’s other tag is Life meaning it ain’t always gonna be sunshine & flowers like your regular mainstream & the people/ characters aren’t always gonna be straight or proper.
From ep 1 it’s very clear the FL is well educated & speaks fluent English…she even has a resume that indicated she had a studied background for managing before marriage.
10 yrs of no work experience is obviously understandable that she won’t get positions in this field but why is it so hard for ppl to understand that it doesn’t make a person incompetent even though her work growth is obviously bias because she is recognised early on & the fact that the ML was clearly using her so he doesn’t have to risk using anyone from the chain of corrupt ppl he was trying to push out.

And her growth in housekeeping & clients is not at all surprising since being a trophy wife of a business man that deals with perfection, luxury & company dinners & events would be a piece of cake in her hands.
As for the slow burn romance..yes it’s very slow but it’s honestly realistic.
Both leads got a lot to prove on a turning point in their lives so romance is subtle, was treaded carefully & shown through their support at work.
I didn’t feel this impacted the drama in any way negative since the business aspect was a good follow & their chemistry when they did got together was worth the wait.
Although her hesitations afterwards was a bit annoying but considering what she’s been through she can somehow be excused.
My only main complaint in this department is some of her actions with the other suitor.
Overall it’s not perfect but in but it’s actually a good watch.

****
If you only want romance this isn’t for you.
If you want that mainstream upstanding ML this may also not be for you since he ain’t perfect in the beginning…that’s for his character growth.
If you don’t have the mindset to follow a business growth venture then this definitely isn’t for you.
This drama is very enjoyable only if you are in the right mindset otherwise don’t go in expecting sunshine but hate the sun.
If you read this whole comment & you might still be interested then give it a shot.
This rating is actually a rare disappointment in MDL for me because I simply read the gother comments & feel most weren’t understanding the plot’s intensions or expecting a lot from a correctly tagged genre.

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Cute and Confusing

I didn't watch the series first but there were a LOT of plot holes. I'm usually not a stickler for plot logic but there were several gaping plot holes and it wasn't the English translation like it often is.

This is a story about a boy who was somehow abandoned as a young child, then found and raised -solo- by a middle schooler. He feels overly indebted to his adoptive hyung/parent, and is working several part time jobs to become financially independent. There seems to be some hint that his hyung harbors romantic(?) feelings(?) and maybe that's why he's being so aggressive about wanting to become independent? He becomes a boyfriend for hire and there is like 10% chemistry. But the actors are both cuties and very awkward. Then his boyfriend-employer's boss wants in on the deal and also hires him as a boyfriend to make her actual boyfriend jealous. Actual boyfriend goes off the rails breaks up with boyfriend-employer's boss and starts stalking her. So in response, she goes to the hyung's bar and apparently talks him into disappearing (?) so that boyfriend-for-hire has to run the bar alone (?) and also become dependant on her, as well as break up with the original boyfriend-employer. Time passes and boyfriend-for-hire randomly (?) finds his hyung at a park, and they sort of (?) reconcile (?) and then boyfriend-for-hire and boyfriend-employer randomly (?) meet at a bus stop and reconcile with kisses. Then boyfriend-for-reals-now pitches an app idea to his real boyfriend and his ex-girlfriend-employer/his boyfriend's boss. and she gets really flirty and intense but approves the sales pitch.

This was a meh, the actors were all cuties and there was no overarching negativity. It wasn't particularly funny. Just kinda cute. The story made no sense at the end.

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