To this day, I still remember how my heart ached for that poor boy. When everybody was pressuring him to say something, anything, he spoke not a word. Not even to defend himself. His soulful eyes, however, spoke volume of his loneliness and frustration, and his resolve to take whatever secret it was to his grave. IMO, he is the only innocent victim in the entire drama.
The music, oh, the music! Angela Chang's "Invisible Wings" and "The Sky within a Pocket" are still top favorites on my playlist.
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It lacks something than it will be better if the writers want to convey something more than what it seems.
After all I come to think that's the power of good PD. Elevated the script, and alot of performances and scene really well executed . SO I can see why people rate it high. I give this drama a good rating for those two alone.
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The Miracles of the Namiya General Store
13 people found this review helpful
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Magnanimous, undeterred baseball player Kim Je Hyuk, most trustworthy and loyal friend Lee Joon Ho, incredible buffoonery of Yoo Han Yang a.k.a Looney, composed and cultured Choi Moo Sung, lovable and sacrificing brothers Jung Moon Sung and Lee Soon Dol, most sweet-hearted and loving Lieutenant Paeng, confident and disciplined Captain Yoo, humorous Kang Chul Doo a.k.a KAIST, sycophantic Crony, ever supportive and unconditional lover Kim Ji Ho, ever faithful Kim Yeong Cheol, impulsive but tough and determined Lee Joo Hyung, authoritarian Captain Na, talkative Song Gi Dong and many other characters surmounted Prison Playbook in a different level. Excitement has been created gradually in a slower pace. Every episode has something different to present. The fondness of each character would eventually grow in a viewer as the episode progresses which imprints a deep mark in the mind. The main focus is the eclectic characters indicted for wrongdoings which are basically not wrong as a matter of fact and finally acquitted after much hardships.
It started with the high-flier baseball player Ki Je Hyuk getting arrested for defensing a crime took place against his younger sister. After being captivated in the penitentiary, the journey of his life while he was serving his terms was the main theme. He met with different inmates of various age, professions, habits and personalities and the relationship he established with each of them through interaction was most amusing, sometimes heart rendering and sometimes empathetic. Remaining within the confined boundary he tried to help his cellmates and other inmates as much as possible. Also he established excellent relationship with other wardens and correction officers as well.
What makes this drama different from rest of the prison dramas/movies is that there is no single protagonist fighting against all the diabolism or morbidity a prison life can offer or how the protagonist fight against all odds to finally get released. What makes it distinguishable is that each character has their own endearing story and background to share. Not necessary that just because they are prisoners they are all heinous criminals. The story emphasized more on the positivity of different characters. Within 16 episodes every story of every character were written and presented meticulously. Eventually enamoured the viewers with the wonderful story telling. This is not the single story. There are multiple stories brought under one place, i.e. prison. This is the story started with a one famous person but there were more than ten to twenty stories. No one is shown as pure evil rather shown their aspirations, dreams or the purpose of doing certain act or how they had fallen prey to a certain situation/incident. It is a character oriented drama. Even the wardens and correction officers have their own story to tell. Not all wardens and correction officers are brutal. Here they displayed the warm hearted and kind team of law enforcement people who were very understanding of the prisoners’ needs and wants. The wonderful affability among these people made the overall story spectacular. All were strangers to one another but ended up having compassion for one another. The stories were simple but the portrayal is elucidated sublimely.
Correspondingly, the sarcastic comedy depicted by all the characters is another charming strength. In a moment it would make one cry and in next would make one burst into laughter. None of the scenes can be said superfluous. When any scenes were important it was there precisely rather than in a prolonged version.
I would like to bow in front of the entire cast and crew for giving us such a joyful thing to watch. I have grown tremendous respect towards them. It was more like reading a wonderful book. The life of this drama were its casts. Each of them poured their heart and soul to perfect their characters given to depict. It is difficult to praise only one actor. All of them did utterly tremendous job. My personal favourites are the characters called Looney and Lieutenant Paeng. Looney’s character was ravishing. Needless to mention that ninety percent of the actors acted here are either struggling or aspiring actors. Hats off to the production company for giving them this lifetime opportunity. Many actors especially Park Hae Soo and Lee Kyu Hyung gave outstanding performances and would definitely leap to fame in the near future. Actually it is pretty difficult to praise a single actor and criticize others. They were all diligent in playing their role no matter how small it is.
Another interesting things are the OSTs and background scores. The intelligent incorporation of certain sounds in the background while showing a humorous scenes were extremely enjoyable. In fact the sounds itself brought laughter along with the blank expressions of the actors. The OSTs are pretty decent and ear catching as well.
I am always a penchant for “prison” related stories but this one by far the best one I have seen till date and definitely going to my most favourtie list. Prison Playbook is the best example of swashbuckling drama and a best example of aesthetically pleasing art piece. The writers and director should be applauded for their creativity and adept story writing and direction respectively. Good things come once in a while and leave everyone awestruck. This drama should be cherished till the end of the world.
Those who haven’t watched it should watch it immediately.
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The OST are great! I love them all!
It made me realize that every family has its own story!
One of the best Kdrama of 2017. One of my favorite!
Plus the fact that Lee Joon and Jung So -MIn date in real life it make me happy! Aja!
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This is a comedy, it's light hearted and very hilarious. You also see growth in compatibility between our two leads Charmaine and Moses (so unlikely to be together at first!). I'd recommend it because it's funny and cheesy. Currently available on Drama Fever 02/01/18
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Real melodrama. I cried a lot. But I ended up incredibly in love.
Whoever you imagined would not sympathize at all, ended up liking ~ ~ even without wanting to admit ~, and you understand the feelings of each character,
where everyone suffers for something and has the marks of a tragedy.
At first I thought, "What a crazy story this is, oh my God, all them with a broken soul, and that never improves," but the evolution is very beautiful.
Some songs made me even more emotional, and the lyrics also very sentimental.
Very good performances, Jin Ah did well for his first drama, and Junho really impressed me.
I was very marked and the message that has remained in me is that we should always tell people close to us how much we like them, and that it can always be the last time, besides that even if a hurricane of bad things happens, you can rebuild, even without forgetting, and even carrying your marks of war.
I'm delighted, admired and don't know what to watch to overcome this.
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Story:
Byun Han Soo was a quiet man who contentedly ran Daddy's Snack Shop to support his wife and four adult children. The children bickered with each other often over sharing clothes or who had to pay when buying their parents presents, but they looked out for each other. Na Yeong Sil happily mothered them all while trying to keep her own mother and naive brother in check. They appeared to be content enough, but it all got thrown out the window with the arrival of a lonely and guarded yet eager idol actor, Ahn Jung Hee, and his turtle, Al. And the best thing about MFIS was that, while there was one big misunderstanding that eventually resolved toward the end, every decision these characters made felt realistic to their personality. The drama had the time to let them be honest. They were so fleshed out that their decisions and logic made actual sense (it's sad how often this doesn't happen). It wasn't like watching a shorter drama where they cram in unnecessary misunderstandings for the sake of drama. There was time for the show to build up a character’s personality and story so that the real misunderstandings and angst could come out to play.
With a couple of exceptions, I loved the story premise and the way it played out. I loved the one-big-happy-family feel of the drama, and it delivered everything I wanted. The only weakness that bothered me was the lost opportunity between a few of the characters in favor of the same side plots hammered to the ground. I’m still not sure if they just didn’t see it in the writing or if these people wouldn’t normally interact in SK. But there were a few characters that, if they had time to spend together, would have been fire to watch.
Acting/Cast:
This was the heart and soul of MFIS. When the plot was on the predictable side or I was trying to get through a filler episode, the cast was why I held on so tightly. It goes to show that tropes still can work when the cast and crew know what they're doing.
I've loved Lee Joon for awhile, but it wasn't until this drama that I grew to respect him as a multifaceted actor. Before, I only saw him in kpop and dark roles - not that there was anything wrong with that…personally, I love a good serial killer - but I didn't think he would expand beyond that type of character. His portrayal of Ahn Jung Hee was spot on. Once he got comfortable, his acting grew into this natural drug that I couldn’t stop taking. It was as if he, idol-turned-actor Lee Joon, was playing himself in the role, and it worked SO well. And Byun Hye Young came across as a stuck up career woman that stomped on others to guard her heart, but she was smart, clever, and caring about the people she loved. The reason I adored her was because Lee Yoo Ri had the BEST facial expressions. She brought a quirky, sassy confidence to the role that made for some of the best comedy in the show. Think Jun Ji Hyun in You Who Came From the Stars with more time to develop. Even the side characters - some of which were the bane of my existence - grew on me despite my attempts to hate them. That, for me, says a lot.
Music:
The music wasn’t memorable for me when I first heard it, but I will be the first to admit my love for it because I loved the drama. It’s light, warm, and innocent. If you like that sort of thing, this is a good pick for you! (I’m all about the melancholy and orchestral music when it comes to dramas, so the fact that I still love this says a lot haha.)
Rewatch Value:
This has a pretty low rewatch value because of the length, but I will 100% rewatch my favorite scenes between my fave OTP.
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This review may contain spoilers
Dramas like these are tough to review. Really. It's not BAD so much as...lame. The story is lame, the acting is lame, EVERYTHING is lame. You could see that the director REALLY, REALLY wanted to paint this grandiose picture of the leads' life amidst the (admittedly beautiful) backdrop of the Shanghai skyline, but fell flat when a cold dose of reality set in: it isn't interesting enough. Had the story fallen into the hands of a talented writer, it could have been so much more. The potential was there. I could see brief glimpses of it when they tried narrating how exactly the female lead ended up getting amnesia and forgetting our male lead (this isn't a spoiler, btw, the description is just half done.) But after the first few minutes of the first episode- poof! We have to wait for MANY, MANY more episodes of unnecessary yammering and plot fillers to get to the actual point. And when it does- it still doesn't.
52 episodes for what could essentially be condensed into a 10 episode drama is excruciatingly painful. Each scene, each event and each action is stretched like a rubber band pulled far apart by nothing but prayer. Each episode was 40 minutes. 40-freaking-minutes. At one point early on in the show, the male lead tries persuading the female to join the contest (yeah, that's another thing they don't mention in the description) for 2 EPISODES! Hell, screw the writers, I would get massively unimaginative if I had to fill 52 episodes of this thing.
The acting is Terrible. The capital T was intentional. Is Ma Ke supposed to be attractive? I don't know. All the female supporting characters in the show seem to think so. He certainly wasn't a good (or even decent) actor. Guan Gabrielle was good as long as she didn't do anything because, in many ways, she was a worse actor than Ma Ke. The supporting characters are so utterly forgettable and recycled from other dramas they aren't even worth a mention.
Lastly, the female lead is supposed to be like, the best dancer (or something?) in the university she attended in California but SUCKS everytime we see an actual performance of hers. One of the judges instantly takes a liking to her because she reminds her of herself and (even though she ruthlessly denies it all the time) gives SO much leeway to the stupid shit our female lead does. Heck, even during this 'really important performance', she chooses the female lead's team that performed some boring shadow act with minimal dance over an actually decently choreographed, power-packed team in a DANCE COMPETITION. Why? Because the her team had actual "heart" and understood "the value of a team."
Yeah, give me a break.
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I held of watching this drama for so long bcoz a) the taiwan version was awesome n b)I saw a small clip and was not at all impressed by the lead pair... had I gone with my superficial insticts that wud have been my biggest mistake ever!
The sign of a good drama is how it can play with ur emotions.... and this drama does it so well. Humour in Kdramas is expected by in this drama...especially the first few episode I rolled in laughter.
And this drama made me cry so much, my headphone muffs became soggy :(
Very well plotted not perfect, there were some loopholes but I loved it.
Only once they resolve their issues, the last four episodes became a bit of a drag. The only time I skipped scenes infact.
The chemistry is brilliant and the lead pair and all casting is perfect.... the lead pair share a brilliant rapport and yes...this show has some of the cutest and hottest kissing scenes!
Worth a watch :)
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When I try recollecting everything I remember about the movie, all I can remember is the scene where she breaks up him. In retrospect, that's probably the only scene where we, the audience, really see REAL emotions from either of the actors (or from the actresses' part, the decided lack of emotions). It was a pretty heartwrenching scene, and probably the only place I felt the actors did a decent job.
The rest of the movie sort of...blurs. I really can't seem to remember any tangible moment in the movie, even though I probably watched during my J-movie marathon a month ago. A MONTH ago. I can remember entire 20 episode dramas from 2 years that really made an impact on me, which suffice to say, this movie didnt.
Overall, it's eh. Harmless, but unless you have absolutely NOTHING to do, I would move on to greener pastures.
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However, close to ending, I feel that the story was being pushed too hard. The ending makes me feel that the whole journey was a total waste. I think this drama has a lot of potentials to become great but the writer total misses the mark. Too much sappy unneeded scenes. Even the criminal is not consistent. There was none intelligence shown at all.
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This movie has a concept of sibling love, and although things are not as they appear, this aspect alone may be uncomfortable. However, if you suspend reality for an hour and half this film is fluffy, cute, entirely ridiculous, and whole lot of fun! Yes, the acting, plot, and screenwriting is questionable, but it will have you laughing and having a great time. The soundtrack is upbeat and the antics are hysterical.
Sometimes you just need a movie that can lift up your spirits and make you giggle like a 13-year-old girl, and this is definitely one. This can help especially if you delved into several serious melodramas of late. (I am currently re-watching Empress Ki and sometimes you need some silly fluff to break up THAT much angst). If you enjoy the manga style live actions such as Heroine Disqualified this is a fun watch and absolutely worth your time!
Happy Drama Watching! :)
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