Reviews

STORY: The sequel to Nirvana in Fire takes place about 50-60 years after the end of the original, following the story of the children of Xiao Ting Sheng (the son of the late Prince Qi, who is later adopted by Xiao Jing Yan). As this was essentially an original story, the writers had a LOT of places they could go with it which has it's good and bad points. The first season was definitely more intricately wound. Everything revolved around the main plot of Lin Shu finding out what happened to the Chi Yan army 17 years prior and bringing to light all those who harmed his family.

The sequel, more so just follows the various families (Chang Lin Prince, Marquis of Laiyang, Xun family), and builds stories around that. While everything technically links up to other parts of the plot, overall there felt like a bit of disconnect to me. Essentially it felt like you were watching the story in phases which were related, but still felt distant. There is the general main split in the story (which is spoiled for viewers on most site's show descriptions), but even within those two halves, there are so many smaller sub-plots going on that it feels much less connected than the original did.

Overall the story was not bad, especially for a sequel. Most sequels are terrible in comparison to the first, more popular season, but this one was not as terrible as I feared. While there were points that were fairly predictable (who was going to be the bad guy, who was going to fall in love with who, etc.) it was still an intriguing watch. I never felt as though there was a big "A HA" moment while watching, but again, it was still a decent watch.

ACTING:

Liu Hao Ran - By now, most people know that there was a lot of criticism for Liu Hao Ran, a young actor being the main anchor of the show. I definitely think he did a great job portraying the younger version of Xiao Ping Jing, but feel he was lacking the power and stature a bit for the second half of the show. He did a good job portraying the different ages/personality of the character, but I do think he was a bit too young to be the main focus of such a weighty drama. As the younger XPJ, he had that youthfulness and brashness that went along very well with the character. He was cheeky and didn't always listen to others, but was loyal and brave. As he goes through the events of the series, his personality matures a lot, but I felt a disconnect between his acting and character when he was the older XPJ.

Huang Xiao Ming - I have a friend who wouldn't watch this drama because of how much she disliked HXM. Honestly, he again was a bit lacking at times (especially because I compared his character to Mei Chang Su/Lin Shu - yes I know, they are two different seasons and I shouldn't compare, but it's inevitable). He was supposed to be this awe-inspiring general who was brave and strong and so on, but (and yes this is a plot line) you never really get to see that out of him. Within the first episode he is wounded and spends most of his screen time recuperating from his wound (hence again the comparisons to MCS/LS). Whether it was his choice to portray Xiao Ping Zhang that way, or if it was the screenwriter/director - HXM just felt very soft and demure the whole way through and never gave off that aura of the strong general or Shi Zi(prince) that he was.

Tong Li Ya - probably my favorite of the four main leads. Meng Qian Xue had that strong energy and outgoingness that I felt with Xiao Jing Yan and Ni Huang in NIF. She was respectful and a good and filial wife and daughter, but was also a badass who could outtalk others and beat them in a fight as well. I felt the best range of emotion with her and enjoyed all the scenes she was in.

Zhang Hui Wen - another young actress, who - compared to the other leads - was a bit lacking in my opinion. My biggest impression of her was just her having a deer in headlights facial expression for most of the drama - when she was supposed to be sad, angry, etc. While she wasn't terrible, she is IMO the weakest link of the main characters. While it was also plot, her character felt a bit one note - she always was just kind of there - not necessarily happy or sad, but just there. The few scenes where she was supposed to be upset, you felt a bit more energy out of her, but overall meh.

REWATCH VALUE: As I learned with Princess Agents, I definitely feel differently about a show when I can watch the whole thing in it's entirety vs watching it as it airs, so eventually I'll watch it again to see if I have a better impression the second time around. While definitely not a -bad- show, it just pales so much in comparison to the original which was almost perfect from most standpoints. NIF 2 just falls slightly above the average for me.

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This drama tried to follow a political plot but it saddens me how much it failed in that aspect. I'll break down my likes and dislikes:

- Acting: the acting was both marvelous and sub par. You have a couple of veterans who, of course, pulled through. At the same time you have characters that didn't really convey what they were supposed to. I'll mention those who stood out:

The crowned prince: by far the best performance in this drama. His facial expressions were on point. He had this royal aura around him combined with confidence and consistency. It was like this role was tailored for him.  He only needs to work a little bit on his crying scenes because he looks like he's laughing instead of really crying.

Hong Ra On: the weakest acting came from her unfortunately. She lacked the heart to portray emotions. She was always looking down for no apparent reason. She didn't know how to convey what the character was supposed to be feeling. that's why most of the time her expressions were the same regardless of the situation.

The Queen: Marvelous acting on her part. Her evilness was palpable. I was even a little scared.

The rest were alright.

-Plot: This story needed work in both characterization and plot progression. You have a revolution that was only a revolution in name. Characters that spent their whole lives trying to spark a rise from the people but that plot point was converted into a plot device mid way. Nothing was done with it, It only served to put Ra On on her knees in front of the prince, with a sword on her neck so he could save her. I mean, what was even the point of Ra On's father's appearance? He was brushed aside fairly quickly after his introduction.

Ra On was a reactive character. She did nothing for the entirety of the series other than get captured by whoever and confuse the two love interests. She didn't feel like a main heroin at all. Her chemistry with the prince was questionable as well. At some points, I even felt bad for him because he was giving it all he got but she didn't have the same level of compromise. Also, I didn't understand her decisions. They didn't make one bit of sense.

Another thing to mention is that the politics here didn't make sense. How many times did the two ministers get caught red handed by the royal family and yet they were still there, unpunished?. Minister Kim also did some questionable things like killing a criminal that was being interrogated right before he was going to name the real culprits  and yet nothing was done. This was kind of frustrating.

-The cinematography, music and direction were average.

In average, I give this a 6.5/10. It could've been better if the female lead was someone with a more powerful acting.

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I'm not good at writting reviews so I'll just go to the point, this movie deserves a review.

In in love with this, I've been watching korean special dramas and this is the best among the ones I've seen so far. The story is so real, seriously if you are in your 20s you'll definately identify with the characters.  The characters go through hardships and they are really scared of getting stuck in the same spot forever.

I love the acting it felt so real, there are not extra dramatic scenes but they are still so heart touching.

Music just fits perfectly with every part of the movie which make this movie even better.

I really recommend everyone to watch It, no matter if you are still in your teens, 20s, 40s,80s...you are going to enjoy it and learn something from it.

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So, According to the reviews, and what others wrote about this movie, i rated this movie's story is 9 out of 10
its true i have a thing for dark and twisted, but if u r really sensitive to psychological problems DO NOT WATCH
BUT i want say, the acting with so and so for the second male lead. the first lead with the psychological thing
is what made this movie as it is "dark and twisted" its actually discussing a serious deep psychological s**t!
its really worth to watch IF and only IF you wanna understand how people with this kinda mental illness develope
these kind of behaviors.
I like the story, only if it was really developed, cz its missing ALOT. the leads could have more acting lessons and training.

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Story
The story overall isn't that amazing or deep or complex, but it certainly was awesome to watch unfold. The development of the story and characters starts really slow at the beginning, but with the turning point in the story speeds up a lot.
It's horror without being scary but instead more crazy and eerie with a lot of gore scenes.

Production
Don't expect too much on the production side. It isn't thaaat good.

Cast & Acting
The cast consists of pretty much unknown actors, who still did a great job.

I didn't really pay much attention to the Music so i can't say much about it, but it definitely wasn't bad that it hurt the overall story/movie and it helps the eerie feeling.

Rewatch value
It's good, but i wouldn't really recommend rewatching it. The story isn't that complicated that you need to rewatch it to understand it, and it isn't that pleasant overall to look at (all the blood and ...).

Overall
Overall I would definitely recommend this movie, but only watch it if you can stand explicit scenes (blood, violence, sexual abuse, etc.)

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"It's Okay, That's Love" is a beautiful and heartwarming Korean Drama. When I first watched a few episodes of this drama, I was kind of getting bored because i feel like there is no progress happening in the story but still I persevered because I always made a promise to myself that whenever I watch a drama I will watch it till the last episode and as for this drama, it was worth it. I love the story, and the casts along with their acting skills were excellent and the chemistry between the lead actor and actress were beautiful and almost perfect. As the story goes you'll soon unconsciously put yourself in their shoes as they suffer from the hardships they encounter and as they face their problems, especially when this drama centers more on mental illnesses, we will learn that it is important that we must always be understanding and showing our genuine love and care towards that person who is going through hard times. The music and the OSTs of this drama are also beautiful as it goes well with the scenes and it would be worth watching it once again.

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I've recently have been really addicted to watching crime-solving dramas. I stumbled upon this one and I was hooked from the get-go. I'm surprised that there hasn't been a review written for this show yet. I loved the characters and the storyline that was there and the series wasn't overly long and so the plot line was very fast paced but they were still able to get the points across and keep the suspense up.

I really enjoyed watching the show and I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. But what I didn't enjoy as much was at points in time the personality of the main character was not very well explained and her past wasn't explained at all but it seemed to be one of the main parts to why she became a police officer in the first place. The last episode was amazingly put together and was a really good finish to the series.  

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Romeo and Juliet

I am so sad by the low rating and bad reviews i see about this very well made artistic drama. Extraordinary beautiful story. The music is not abusetly used, it is well chosen for the right reasons, at the right time. Silence doesn't mean there is no music in this drama. The cast is well balanced, great chemistry between actors. Every character is extraordinary portrayed by the cast. I'm in heaven by the acting, for there were not many lines, body language and facial expressions, emotion transmitted that way. The filming is remarkable, many distinguished technics for wonderful results. The pace is slow but intentionally that way, there is a balance between the music, frames, acting, istoric period, place of filming, story, emotion. I've alredy watched 3 times and I get same emotions 'till the end, no matter how many times I watched it.

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If Jang Hyuk's in it, you can trust that you're in for a good ride. While I don't usually follow Korean actors with their works, Jang Hyuk is among the few that I do, because I know that he always picks quality content. 'Money Flower' was not an exception.

When I first tried watching this, I dropped it after fifteen minutes because 1) I had no idea what was going on 2) it looked like a standard over-played drama plot. But, after reading a few reviews that were highly praising it towards its middle, I decided to give it another chance (good thing I was in winter break because I binged all 12 episodes at once).

I won't repeat what other reviews have already mentioned - the cast is solid, the plot is great, the ending is more than satisfactory. But I do want to talk about my one standout character and cast member - Lee Mi Sook playing as Jung Mal Ran. Not only was I absolutely stunned by her beauty and grace, I was also quite blown-away by her acting. Her performance was the most memorable for me and kept me coming back to the show. Others may not agree with me, but I thought that she was a well-rounded character with solid motivations (not good motivations, but solid nonetheless), back story, and perfectly executed by her actress. If you love character studies, I would highly recommend this show just for her, because she transforms so much from the first to the last episode.

My only quibble with this series was the fact that at times I felt that the episodes could have been shortened and certain conversations skipped over (eg. the main character repeatedly threatening one of his aggressors in the same exact way for 3-4 episodes). But it's a show definitely worth trying out - especially if you're looking for a solid makjang drama that won't bore you halfway with anything too over-dramatic.

8.5

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Despite watching this Cdrama when it came out and rewatching it a billion times and downloading it a billion times on various flashdrives....yeah I have never reviewed it.  I love this drama.

It is a banal Cinderella-esque story with a strong, strong, strong dash of Itazura na Kiss .  We have our super smart & rich CEO Prince who turns into pseudo-stalker and falls for lowly worker, who happens to be not so bright; yet she is peppy, strong-willed, and determined.

You start falling in love with all these endearing qualities of Shan Shan (female lead) as Feng Teng (male lead) has fallen in love.  You understand and you fall in love with both of them.  Feng Teng though is far more admirable than either Prince charming in Cinderella  and far more palatable than Naoki Irie.

All in all this is not story I would expect EVERYONE to fall in love with because it's normal. There's nothing surprising. This nothing to keep you at the edge of your seat, there's nothing to make you cry, there's nothing heartbreaking (really).  It's just a very sweet romantic story.  It's something that could have been limited to maybe 5 episodes. But was nicely executed into 33 and didn't leave me bored one bit.

I like shows like this. I like something calming and I can enjoy. For example, every Christmas I do two things.  I watch National Lampoon's Christmas and drink Hot Cocoa (with Milk); Oh, and eat oatmeal.  It's just something I do.  It makes me feel good and it's very comforting. This drama is comforting.  When I need a nice come to, feel good, love story. I come to this one.

Kdramas---romantic BS or whatever--they always have something to make you cry.  ALWAYS.  Not one romantic comedy of Kdrama doesn't have a tearjerker moment, now imagine their non-romantic comedies.

Lakorns---Not there yet with romantic comedies...so not there yet. Too much slap stick to keep me happy. Their other romantic stories have some slap/kiss or tears.

Taidramas -- No.  And their romantic comedies can be irritating.  Some aren't as filling or aren't memorable.  They don't reach the memorable state as the Cdramas. I have a few Cdramas taht are feel good like this.

Jdorama - They don't really do romantic comedies for me. They do romantic mangas. They're always a win, but those are independent in and of themselves.

This is a drama in and of itself.  It's your feelgood romantic comedy that chronicles the steps of two people from two different worlds and how they collide along with the people that rotate in their orbit.  

It's a fun ride.

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This film shows an interesting perspective of the 1980s and the conflict between western influence and Korean traditions. A slightly disturbing film due to the blame being placed upon the women for her choices and the consequences. Westerners are definitely shown as the evil in this film, however you have to take in perspective of when this film was made and the influences at the time. It took me a while to fully grasp who was who and their role in the story, however once I had my head wrapped round it, there were many different layers and viewpoints. Amazing acting and an interesting watch.

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Entertaining in it's own right.

We all must already know by now that (not all though) kdramas aren't exactly the most accurate depiction of certain areas, medical being perhaps the main one. Falling For Innocence is not above that. With an almost fantasy-like plot (if not outright fantasy), FFI however is a good romance, with good characters and interactions.

This drama presents the same formula we are all tired to see: a rich jerk romancing a plucky, cheerful woman who, for reasons, intrigues him and defies everything he stands for. No matter how mean or rude he acts towards her, they will end up falling in love anyways because...well, it wouldn't be a kdrama if they didn't. The one thing that differentiates this drama is that the girl fiancee's heart is on the jerk and he starts to feel for her even though his mind says otherwise. It's an interesting plot point, unrealistic, but still interesting.

Apart from the typical romance, we also have a very typical revenge ploy where the jerk aims to make "justice" by exposing and depowering the ones who wronged his family when he was just a child (althought I'm almost convinced he did, at first, just to avenge his hurt pride). One more cliché to the list. Oh, and we can't forget the jerk has a "sad, sob worth past so that his actions are somehow explained (or even excused, though I beg to differ)"

Add some predictable mystery on the line and then we have Falling For Innocence.

However, despite all it's clichés and predictabilities, I liked it. I liked the characters, mainly Min Ho. He basically steals the show, even when he's behaving like a rude jerk and one step of being a sociopath. Jung Kyung Ho knows how to perfectly balance his character's manchild's antics with the angst required for someone who is, firstly, nearly dying and then suddenly discovering life again and how much of a horrible person he used to be. Unlike many rich jerk leads, his change actually is believable.

Kim So Yeon is good, but not outstanding. Like I said, this show is basically JKH's. But it was good to see a different sort of candy girl, who isn't entirely stupid or unbelievably clueless or kind. She's firm when necessary, but also has a gentle and positive mind. And when she faces angst, it actually feels natural. It was a refreshing role to see KSY in, althought I didn't see many of her drama. I watched and hated her inI Need Romance 3 (actually I hated that drama in general)  so much I was skeptical at first, but she won me over and showed that yes, she still can take a place in my list of good korean actresses.

The supporting cast was also good, I have to say that I didn't quite like how they turned Yoon Hyun Min's character on an outright villain, with little to no redeemable features. I liked him in the beginning, he was a good contrast to Min Ho's manchild, but then for some reason the writers decided to make him downright evil because...evil mwahahaha. And the main leads need another obstacle (?). It would be much better if instead of creating a monster, they created someone who, still antogonistic, had more personality other than being the psycho.

Also, the office babbles bored me sometimes. You see, I'm not here entirely for the fluff (although it's 60% of the reason), but the business part of this drama was boring. So boring I found myself switching attention for other things. Luckily I think they noticed this and by the middle to the end of the drama focused much more on the characters, and the fun part of business a.k.a ploys to humiliate/take down business (yeah, I like that)

Aside from some shortcomings though, I have to say that I liked the general message of this drama. Actually, it has a lot of good aesops or at least some leads for you to think over. My favorite must the "If there's no love in your heart, then life is not worth" or something among these lines. Cute. I'll put that on my Tumblr later.

The music was forgetable. Seriously, I can't even remember one OST. Maybe I'm not as good of a reviewer as think I am, but if I'm watching a drama the OSTs has to catch my attention, even if just one.

Rewatch value? Hmmm, I'll also admit I'm definitely not one to rewatch a drama (It's also actually one of my drama viewer's almost rules, besides never watch a currently airing drama, but those I don't always follow). However, I can see myself watching it again in a distant future when I'm too bored or dimotivated to look for dramas. It would be a good pick if I wanted a not so serious drama.

All in all FFI has a lot of flaws, but I enjoyed and even binged, that's why the rating is relatively high. JKH is definitely on the way to become one of my favorite actors (I'm just loving him in Prison Playbook and plan to watch his other stuff), and I don't dislike KSY. Also, Min Ho's antics about love when he was heartbroken were the best.

And this drama is quotable af.

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This was a quite heartwarming drama.

At first I was a bit suspicious because the story didn't seem too intriguing at first, but once you get to know the main characters that all changes.
The story mainly is about two huge families. The main couple Ahn Mi Jung and Lee San Tae meet at work. Ahn Mi Jung has divorced her husband some years ago and Lee San Tae's wife died due to cancer years ago. It seems those two have given up on love or finding someone and concentrate on their children and work. As they meet though a really cute and almost childish romantic behaviour starts to happen between the two which is so adorable to watch. Also other family members start to fall in love with people from the other family...it's actually quite complicated because not only the fate of the main couple if shown but the fate of the whole family gets sucked into a HUUUGE romantic bubble.

I loved the cast! And I really loooved the main couple and how they played their roles! As I said I thought this will be a boring drama, but they made it so real for me and it was beautiful to watch! Also: All the supporting roles deserve applause as they are so different from one another and how they change once they fall in love is so adorable :D One thing that has to be mentioned: the acting of the kids was so good! They played their roles so so so well and they were soo cute! Everyone who has siblings (I have a sibling) can relate to their feelings how it is to grow up not being the only kid in the family and that's what I also really liked about the drama: It was real and beautiful with everything that life has to offer. From romance to breakup to makeup xD

The music was nice, nothing to complain about.
This drama is quite long so I would probably not watch it right away because it takes quite a while.

Overall a 9.5/10.

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A must watch

I watched this drama almost a year ago and it's stuck with me ever since. No matter how many other shows I watch or stories I consume, this one continues to be one that I always think of and recommend first. Boku no ita jikan was full of joy and soul-crushing sadness at the same time. The message was heartwarming, and that has stuck with me continuously as well. When faced with our own mortality, how do we react? What decisions do we make to protect those around us? What decisions do we also make to protect ourselves? If you don't like stories that make you cry for 3 hours straight, this one might not be for you. But if you love a story full of rich characters, all with their own backstories and personalities, goals and ambitions, then this one might just be one to watch. It does have quite a few stereotypical drama themes (illness, romance, etc), but they're easily ignored for the heartwarming characters and the growth of each individual throughout the story. The acting is great as well, so it was easy for me to overlook themes that I may have otherwise disliked.I hope you'll consider giving this one a try! I'm really glad I did.

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So I went to the cinema to see this film with no idea of what it was, and I wasn't disappointed.

The story is very surprising and you could say that a weird film, but honestly it worth it. The relation between the characters is really interesting and you can really feel that all of them have their story and have a life before the movie even started.
Also I liked thet fact that roles are kinda reversed: we often get to see foreigners being lost in Japan, trying to speak Japanese when no Japanese understand what they say etc, but here the situation is the contrary, the Japanese characters are lost in the US.

All the actors are really talented, I read that most of them could relate at a personnal level to the characters' stories so it makes the whole movie way more realistic, and the problematic that are shown (suicide, dispute between families, financial problems, ...) are really touching.

I won't say that it was the best film I've never seen, or that I'll absolutly wtach it again (I've put a rewatch value rate cause I had to, but I haven't rewatch it), but it was really interesting and I'm really curious to see Hirayanagi Atsuko's next films.

Also the French poster was very beautiful, that what attracted me at first ha ha

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