Reviews

Often considered a masterpiece of cinema, Yasujiro Ozu's "Tokyo Story" is a slow-paced, slice-of-life story. An elderly couple visits two of their grown children in Tokyo. However, their children are busy and have no inclination to make time for their parents. This part of the story really broke my heart, especially considering how close I am to my parents. The only person who actually spends time with the couple is the wife of their dead son, Noriko (played by Setsuko Hara). Hara had my favorite scene at the end and her character was hands-down the best.

Ultimately, the story is about how children grow apart from the parents and how they can thoughtlessly hurt them.

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Well this is no spoiler and should’ve been put in the description on tops This is TRAGEDY!! The only difference from this and the original story is that it is more modern I guess. Just a lot of indirect ads and stuff like this. Basically no BL since the people knew she was a girl not to long after. So this isn’t any not gay but gay love. The story could’ve been more attracting and didn’t make me want to watch more of it. The only thing good about this drama is how good looking the male leads are and basically that’s it. Don’t really recommend watching it. Don’t waste your time. Or you could choose to watch the first 5 eps and watch the ending. I am so disappointed that I wasted a whole day on this.

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Ahhh, they could've made this so cute and simple....
but no.
I've seen dramas 3 times longer than this one, but with much fewer plot twists.... there are so many, it became predictable for me, what would happen, because it was like the writer said "Let's make this as shocking as possible!" but I've seen a ton with some of the same ideas in it. It was just trying too hard to become something it wasn't. And it's honestly a shame, since they could've made this so great... had a lot of potential.
The main leads are adorable (didn't like the female lead at first, I guess I had to get used to her), has a great chemistry (even with second male lead) and honestly, I really adored second male lead...
the second female lead though... she was SO annoying... gosh, she made me wanna drop it.
The OST didn't really stand out to me, because I was more focused on the many turns this took. I'm fine with drama, but I don't like it when it's there for absolutely no reason. All the drama, was useless. It just didn't add to the original story at all. I even want to suspect that they changed the writer, from about episode 8 and then changed it, every single episode onward. New episode, new writer.
I'm amazed with whoever came up with this idea because, it generally was a good idea. The first couple of episodes though, made me cringe. Maybe because I haven't watched that many of these kinds of dramas but I'll give credit for the food scenes. The food was looking nothing less than GORGEOUS, and the cooking scenes was nice.

I'm probably not gonna rewatch this, and if I do, it's because I like the leads and second male lead.

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I think if you go into this drama with no expectations, it will surprise you. I have not read the manga, but I have watched other adaptations of this drama. And while I enjoy the Japanese remake better, this drama has a special place in my heart and has its own special aura.

The story is straight forward and somewhat cliche, and the acting isn't over the top or remarkable either, but there's a heart in this drama that will make you want to root for the girl. It's a perfect drama to watch as a teenager. I'd have to disagree with some reviews claiming that it showed Oh Hani, the main girl, as senseless. I think it actually depicted somewhat realistically just how swept up some teenagers can get in love interests, that it becomes the whole world to them, but they come to realize that adulthood has many aspects and finding romance is just one of them. Of course the cold male lead ridiculing the young girl is not something anyone wants to support, but this drama doesn't justify him being an asshole either. It instead does show character development and a budding romance between the two leads. I felt like the nearly robotic way the male lead portrayed himself in the beginning wasn't something that deviated out of character, and instead was portrayed fine.

One review said that the mom was helping Oh Hani stalk her own son: well they two leads are living in the same house, it's hard to be depicted as a stalker when you are residing in the same place in all honesty. The mom is actually one of the best reasons to watch this drama. She does want the two to get together because she's always longed for a daughter, but she isn't forceful and doesn't get in the way of the relationship either. It was refreshing to see a Kdrama mum be all over the female lead instead of being against her.

Overall this drama is worth dipping your toes into at least once. I found a special spark this drama had, if you don't feel it that's fine, but it definitely is worth looking into.

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This drama was so epic and awesome! I loved the characters and the story although sometimes I felt I had to remember so many names and backround things that I got surprised either way xD
I liked how the relationships between the characters develop and also how one can relate to so many feelings they have.

I also loved the costumes and the set! The music was soooo good too! Most of the times I usually skip the intro because it gets boring after a while, but I had to listen to the song they used here all the time :D
 
I think I even watched it two times already and still think it's awesome!
The ending could be a bit different in my opinion...I love happy endings and this ending made me kind of sad.

Also it's interesting that I kind of switched liking the characters in this drama but I don't think I was the only one :D at first we really like the relationship between Ka Suo and Li Luo but later on I (or we all) were really excited to know how the relationship between Ying Kong Shi and Yan Da develops.

This drama has everything: some comedy, action, magic, love and also lots and lots of heartbreak x)

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This drama is just wonderful.
The story is so unique and special that you wonder if you'll ever watch a kdrama like this again.
I watched all the episodes in one streak, from morning until late at night.  I just couldn't stop.
When I started this, I had no idea, no clue what this story was about. I was so... mindfucked. I had difficulties to link things and only afterwards, some puzzles were solved. But the longer you watch, the more you get into the characters and the story, the more you understand.
This drama gives so much tension and whenever you think you found a puzzle, it turns out differently. Where you had hope in one episode, it got shattered in another. And where you don't expect it, you get the "aha" feeling.
Seriously, this kdrama is my top 1 favourite.
Don't expect too much romance. Call it more... bromance. The love between two brothers. This drama focuses on the tension, the link between two worlds and the story that plays between the brothers. The directors didn't want to make a cheesy romantic drama. And I'm glad it's not.
I must add one thing more: you'll cry at the end. Because you didn't want it to end. You'll go crazy because there is no season 2. Seriously, I became almost mad xD
But anyway, it's a very special kdrama with a very special story and the cast is as wonderful as the drama itself!

Please check this drama out, It's really worth it.

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If I were to describe this drama in one word it would be thought-provoking.  

This is one of those dramas that just causes you to think and I mean that in a good way.  I love how the writers went in different directions at certain points of it, and I love how there were a lot of modern ideas and thought processes woven into this one.  It made this drama feel more original.  This drama kept me hooked because I was interested in all three couples stories.  Each of their relationships were really different specifically each partner's expectations for the other and their expectations for the direction their future's should take.  I applaud the writers because it's not a typical thing for me to be interested in much other than the main couple, but they managed to keep the other couples interesting as well so that when it was their turn I didn't begrudge it but was excited instead.  Even though marriage is not really on my horizon this drama gives you a lot of food for thought about the institution of marriage and it's values and issues.  

I also felt really touched by a specific character's journey. Her desire to live a normal, typical life.  I've never desired my life to be insanely different than anyone else either and what I've always wanted is to live a life where I do the things that everyone wants to do. Sometimes you just want what's normal and that really hit home for me.

The actors do a splendid job.  Each character is played realistically even though some are exaggerated.  The exaggeration isn't anything hard to watch though, it's more just emphasis on the type of person each one is and I think the actors do a really good job of being believable and likable and more than anything, interesting.  Also, I loved Bo Mi's character!

The music is beautiful and I don't think they could have picked more fitting tracks.  The upbeat tracks make me wanna jump up and down, and the sadder more melancholic songs are very poignant to the situation.  The music definitely adds a lot to this drama.

Because This Is My First Life almost made it into my favorites list, but there was one episode or two that I really disliked and no matter how hard I try I can't quite overlook them.  I know what the point was that they were trying to make, but I would argue that they went way to far, passing the bounds of realistic and believable.

Overall: I recommend this drama! I felt refreshed by this drama and whenever that happens I think the drama deserves a lot of merit.  It's really good and I definitely think the pros outweigh the cons pretty heavily.

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The story is basically about Goni becoming best gambler. The gamble is the korean traditional one, Hwa ttu. So i could not understand the rules and details which seems to be important in the story but anyway its about cheat, win or die.
The movie just flows by focusing Goni and it was interesting to see how he change and how he does not change. The story was typical but the characters were unique it describes character's intrigue, what they fear, as it goes I really fall into the characters. In some way I feel that characters are exaggerated maybe its because the story is from cartoon. But I didnt find it uncomfortable. The description of gamble world seems to be realistic.

Acting is overwhelming with full of tension between all actors and actress. That's the reason that this movie seems to be great than it actually is. Especially the main characters ???did great job.

?I found that background sound is annoying sometimes. I think they tried to??? cartoon feels by using strong sound but it distracted me.

Rewatch value is high because of the great actings and the ending, I want to watch it again in near future.

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I like the ambiguous chemistry between the two male leads, but anyone hoping for anything to happen between them ought to take note that this series cannot be described as BL, so don't set your hopes too high! The canned laughter and slapstick sound effects are, to me, an unnecessary distraction and worse, they sometimes come on at inappropriate moments. The laughter especially sounds very obviously fake, since they start and end abruptly. The incidental music is also out of place with some of the scenes. The theme song is not bad but is typical of most contemporary Thai series. Watch this series once and then move on to the next series.

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It's my first time writing a review, and I'm not one to usually do this. I'm usually the type to just watch and get over it but let me tell you this, this drama is SO GOOD that I just had to do a review on it!

I stumbled upon this drama after seeing it on my timeline and I wasn't so familiar with Chinese drama so I didn't know what to expect. I found the story cute at first, I thought it was fine as a drama but as I got further into it, I realized it was so much better than what I expected it to be. I'm not one to experience the romantic excitement (kilig) that much, and this drama squeezed so much romantic excitement out of me! I found myself crying over it, and I'm quite sad that I finished it in just 3 days :( I'd definitely watch this again someday and I would recommend it to everyone!! Also, I researched on the cast after watching the drama and I found out they're all rookies, kudos to the cast for bringing so much life to the drama!! :))

I'LL POST WHAT I LIKE AND WHAT I DID NOT LIKE [[SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOR OWN RISK]]

What I Like:
- The friendship that was shown. It's definitely heart warming to see that this drama gives out so much positive energy on the character's frinedship
- The actors portrayed the characters very well
- THE ROMANTIC EXCITEMENT IT GAVE ME
- JIANG CHEN ACTING CUTE LMAO ((I AINT OVER THIS YET)) 

What I Don't Like:
- Jiang Chen was a cold guy so he cannot express his feelings very well, he hurts Xiao Xi when he gets jealous and idk sometimes I feel that it's too much??
- Wu Bo Song deserved better tbvh, they should've atleast showed what happened to him after coming back
- Chen Xiao Xi can be very annoying sometimes but I guess it's tolerable
- For me, I think there were a lot of unnecessary scenes (?) I mean I think there were a bit too much time given to their high school life, I feel that I think it would've been better if we had seen a bit more of their future :))

ALL-IN-ALL, I will give this drama a 10!! Hoping for some sort of sequel that can maybe show their futures??

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Short, sweet, and adorable. The ability to see is a such a blessing that we take for granted. Imagine living with no sight for even an hour, it would drive you insane. We should be more kind and thoughtful towards those who are missing out on all the great things because of various disabilities. This movie made me think of  volunteering to lend a helping hand to those who need it. Inspiring others and spreading hope (& a positive mindset) in life is such a wonderful thing.  Always remember that not everyone has what you have and that while you might think that your life is all messed up, think about those in a more bleak state or even living a dangerous lifestyle.

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In all honesty, I had no hope for this drama. Yes, I judged it by the cover and it looked like a melodic like drama, but it turned out to be rom-com. I was looking for typical fluff and mean girl chasing out the main female, but it was more.

Xiao Xi is a phenomenal actress, pulling off every scene. I am usually very hard of female leads because (I’m picky) they usually exaggerate their acting and act super cute. In this case, she was naturally adorable. Super bright, and uplifting. I think the director casted a great female lead.

Jiangchen is an eye candy. The character growth was smooth and not bumpy, so props for the amazing writers. He may be a rookie, but he and Xiao Xi mingled this drama as if they were pros. I really don’t look forward for rookie actors, (since their usually robots) but he definitely did not disappoint.

Okay, now to the storyline. I love how the drama gradually opens them from their youth to their adulthood. The transition from scenes to scenes were not choppy and executed really well. There weren’t any useless characters in this drama and I enjoyed the second love line. The contrast of the main love line and second were clear, it was nice to breathe from a suffocating hate-relationship to a fluffy love once in a while.

The writers definitely did not try to drag the drama, creating useless plots. Everything was well planned and it’s no crazy revenge, ‘that’s my girl’ thing.

All in, this drama would have you skipping hearts and craving more and more. It’s been a week, and I haven’t seem to get this couple out of my heart yet.

Ps: as a person who skips scenes (a lot), this drama is a spotlight stealers. There’s no scene to skips as everything is sooooo smooth.

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This drama was okay, it's a bit overrated and shouldn't be rated THIS high on MDL. Would be more reasonable if it was in the 7.5-8.0 range to be honest.

This review will probably never be noticed by the rest of the MDL community since there are a lot of reviews with high ratings for this drama, but I thought I'd write one anyways. I watched this drama because 1) it's pretty popular in China for a webdrama and I pretty much check out whatever is popular in China regardless whether it is popular here on MDL and 2) my best friend likes cute romances and I really wanted to make her watch something Chinese this winter break before we parted ways again.


Story:
What I liked:
1) The entire group of friends together was very fun to watch. Loved the chemistry of their friendship together. I didn't skip any friendship scenes.
2) Their high school lives were more interesting than their adult lives.
3) Need a friend like Lin Jingxiao in life. Supportive, smart, and caring.

What I disliked:
1) the main girl was literally SOOOOOO dumb like I don't think I know of a dumber female lead than her character. very few get into a good university like Zhejiang on their second gaokao
2) when Jiang Chen was jealous, he would act mean to her. I get this is supposed to be out of jealousy, but his actions seriously irked me.
3) Jiang Chen giving up the chance to go to Qinghua. And then almost giving up the internship opportunity. And also selling his car to pay for her manhua thing. Like yeah, I guess those actions are supposed to be romantic, but I thought they were straight up stupid moves.
4) liked the second lead initially. towards the end, I'd really wish he could just move on to someone else
5) lack of communication in their relationship was sooooo idek what to say lol
6) their break up was sooooooo.....anticlimatic didn't feel a thing
7) the drama felt like it was slowing down at the end
8) the second couple scenes were pretty boring, skipped a lot of their scenes as the drama progressed
9) I didn't like how even though Chen Xiaoxi knew her grades sucked, she hardly put any work into bringing them up. Like yeah, if she didn't want to ask Jiang Chen, then I get it, but her BEST FRIEND is literally one of the top students in the class and she still didn't use her resources LOL

Acting/Cast:
Acting-wise, they were okay. They're all new actors, so I have nothing to compare to. They weren't spectacular, but they weren't terrible either. I think one of my biggest issues was with Hu Yitian's line-reading skills. He speaks pretty unclearly and has poor enunciation (I am fluent in Chinese so this bothered me while I was listening, but if you don't speak it, then you should be okay with it). Also his voice is really monotonous LOL. But he's tall and pretty cute.

Music:
I don't really think there was much music played for this drama, but I quite like the opening theme song!! Ending theme song is meh but the opening one is nice.

Rewatch Value:
Never rewatching this again LOL I mean the drama wasn't terrible but I was pretty bored and not captivated

Overall:
It's a good drama to watch if you have nothing to do, or if you're like me, have a friend who likes cute romances. I heard they deviated quite a bit from the book. "Prime example of an adaption gone wrong by removing all the likeable traits from the main characters. Chen Xiaoxi was never this brainless, and Jiang Chen never leads his potential love interests on. I would’ve preferred a story that spent more time on their adulthood (as in the original), especially when it’s clear the only purpose of the schoolyard love triangles was to drag out the episode coount." (Source: Cfensi). But yeah I really couldn't stand how brainless Chen Xiaoxi was.

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