It's a good watch, but the pacing was a bit weird for me. The amount of time skips made it a bit rushed feeling even though the romance had good pacing. There were some characters I found did not add much to the plot and were added in only for more romantic plots (ex: Gai Lan) and they did not interest me at all. I wanted to skip their scenes most of the time, what kept me watching the drama was the chemistry between Diliraba and Zhang Bin Bin. Although in our modern time, the romance would not be well received due to the mistreatment of Gong Sun Li, it should be kept in mind that in their time, the king does whatever he wants LOL. When adding his past, you can kind of empathize with him. Personally, I liked the progression of the romance between the two. The characters are all very flawed, and sometimes although human, makes you want to strangle the person for their stupidity. Some poorly written characters aside, the story itself was pretty good, although the ending left me feeling a bit empty. Characters are very one dimensional for a 48 episode drama.
Cast/Acting:
Love the cast, but felt like the acting could have been better. I have high expectations of Diliraba and Zhang Bin Bin. They did well, especially ZBB, but there were moments where the emotions were not as well received on my end. There were scenes however, that damn, ZBB delivered so well I had to rewatch some parts due to feeling the intense emotions and not on what was being said. Major props to the actors of Han Shen and Li Zhong. They did great in their character portrayal and you can really feel their love/loyalty towards Sun Li and the King. As for Jing Ke, I've watched the actor in other dramas and he was pretty great in them, so I will chalk it up to poor writing of his character. He did well for what he was given, but all he was able to show was self pity most of the time, not much to show his acting abilities. I think the rest of the supporting casts did great, from the kings mother to the evil eunuch! The only one that bugged me was the actress for Gai Lan. Something about her acting made it seem forced and unnatural, but she wasn't horrible.
Music:
Standard sad OSTs that sound nice. Will be on my chinese OST playlist but isn't anything groundbreaking.
Rewatch Value:
I will most likely just watch the romance between Ying Zheng and Sun Li due to Jing Ke and Gai Lan being very boring.
Overall:
Keep in mind that the characters are based off of real people, but it is not very accurate in portrayal. Jing Ke 90% of the time was in a mode of self pity and Ying Zheng was not as ruthless compared to in real life. Not recommended to watch this if you want to learn about the history of the characters. They were changed to put more emphasis on the romance. However, if you put that aside, the romance was great between Sun Li and King Ying Zheng. The ending left me feeling a bit empty as it did not show much, wished we could have seen more of little Tian Ming.
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Heo Im (Kim Nam-Gil) is a very famous acupuncturist doctor who worked in one of Joseon's superintendents, caring for the most needy people. It turns out that at the same time, he was accumulating a lot of wealth going to treat senior officials at night.
The opportunity Heo Im so much hoped emerged: he was cast to treat the King's disease, and completing the treatment, he could finally win the position of a royal doctor.
At the beginning of the journey to palace, he was surprised by a desperate father with his very sick daughter in the lap and decided to leave them waiting, giving priority to the treatment of the king. It occurs that before starting with acupuncture, Dr. Heo's hand began to tremble and he wasn't able to apply even the first needle. The incident was considered an insult to the King and he had to flee the palace before being imprisoned. But the officers chased him and cornered him on a bridge. After receiving an arrow, Dr. Heo fell into the river and traveled in time.
~
Live Up To Your Name, Dr. Heo ... I started to watch without many expectations and I was completely stunned by the script! It is simply amazing and very well written. No flaws, the story flowed very well and was a phenomenal experience. It's from another level. It isn't a simple time travel drama.
The drama is a mix of medical, historical and romantic comedy genres with a more adult twist. The exchange of environments (Joseon / Seoul) is fantastic and very well made and occurs at the most opportune moments. They also succeeded in highlighting the change in medicine between the two centuries, focusing, for example, on equipment such as the needle, herbs, then scalpel, medicines and others.
Oh yeah, the story brings up several other historical points and characters that were important to medicine. The history pass in the time when the Japanese invaded South Korea. Let me cite an example: Dr. Heo Jun (Uhm Hyo Sup) was actually one of the best royal doctor during the King Seonjo Dynasty in Joseon and constantly appears in the drama , bringing brilliant lessons; So we still take a "bath" of historical knowledge.
Acting/Cast
It's even funny because, at the beginning of the drama, I watched two completely flawed protagonists. Dr. Heo had been torn apart by the injustices of the world and could no longer be considered a doctor, for his values had been lost in the arduous path that life was in Joseon. Choi Yeon-Kyung decided to be a doctor after losing her parents and resent her grandfather, she became apathetic (apathy - lack of passion), a little arrogant and did not sympathize with her patients.
The evolution of the characters is the big point of the plot! They with their own faults help each other, correct and grow in an impressive way. And you know what else? The story unfolds at a perfect and exciting pace.
I can say that I followed Dr. Heo's path and that today I am his great fan. That I understood your feelings, your inner conflicts, your responsibilities and your despair. And this is all merit of the brilliant performance of Kim Nam Gil.
The secondary characters are so charismatic and I've been falling in love with them little by little. Everyone has some influence on the plot and their presences have made the story even more unique.
Music
The OST is beautiful and exciting.
Rewatch Value
Yes, this drama has a flaw: it's over. Oh really! I'm missing this drama, I didn't want it to come to an end so quickly.
And the romance? The romance is beautiful! Perfect! The protagonists have a lot of chemistry! Really! And as the Japanese samurai said there in episode 16 ... They look beautiful together!
So if I could honestly say to you guys not to miss a drama that was broadcast in 2017 I would say that's the one. I know a lot of people don't know and didn't follow and that is why I need your help so that this review reaches the hearts of our chingus!
It's a drama to get involved, get excited, have fun and that's exactly what we're looking for!
~ Sorry for my English.
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I enjoyed all the characters, and maybe only wish that Jung Her wasn't quite so prickly with Hye Joo (in the beginning) and Dong Moon. The weakest of the main characters, for me, was the actor playing Son Jin. He was a little flat for me, but otherwise, the cast was spot on.
The music was exceptional. There were several songs that were popular in the U.S. during that time period as well as some lovely Korean songs. The music really did a lot to add to the feel of the show.
I would rewatch this again without hesitation.
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Multiple plot twists, most of them completely unexpected. kept me on the edge of my seat. Probably one of the dramas I've watched quickest, just because every episode made me want to watch more. Wasn't my usual cup of tea, as I'm very much a romantic comedy, happy-go-lucky, cliché drama kinda person. However, wasn't cliché at all, and was very well written, and acted.
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The story was a bit blunt. I especially liked the first part in which most of the footage took place on that deserted island, however back in mainland Korea, they stretched it too much in my opinion to finish that total of 16 episodes. However the acting of the actors was quite good to outstanding with some nice OST attached to it.
And what happened to Park Chan Yul as Lee Yul? It felt like he was completely forgotten until that last reference in episode 16, which was a bit disappointing to me.
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School series in particular have this specific way to delve deeply into the problems of South Korean students. Who Are You: School 2015 was based on bullying and common family problems. Also, this version offered a lot of mystery elements which I really enjoyed. Sometimes it felt like you were reading a crime novel!
The storyline was quite hard to follow, especially in the first episode, but the eventually everything started to fall into place. I get why a lot of people like to be harsh critics of School 2015 (probably the second lead syndrome that everyone has gone through). Yes yes, there were so beautiful moments portrayed by the skillful actors, whom I already recognize from the previous drama that they've starred in. Some characters in particular made me mad and sappy, happy and sentimental. My emotions were all over the place and I guess it's supposed to be the main objective of the drama.
The OST was touching and enjoyed as well. Can't help but replay all of the songs after watching it!
If you're into school themed dramas that deal with teen problems and first love, this is the drama for you! The storyline is gripping, the actors are superb and the music will definitely enchant you!
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Jimi ni Sugoi! DX Koetsu Garu Kono Etsuko
1 people found this review helpful
What I loved about the dorama was how Konno-san worked as proofreader and how she inspired the other people in her office. Fortunately, since she is now working in Lassy, we still get to enjoy the fun of proofreading. But on the other hand, it was more about Konno working for Lassy and being stressed-out about it and how she is again herself once she proofreads. Like Tako said " your dream work may not be your vocation". Too bad Tako had so few scenes, because he was a good character.
Other thing that I didn't like in the dorama, and still didn't like in this SP, is Yukito. Very bland character. Konno-san deserved a more lively guy, a guy with stronger personality. Like Tako :(
While I found the whole SP nice but a bit MEH, I loved the ending. Now I want a 2nd season ^_^ (this time about Konno-sa falling in love with another guy that isn't Yukito)
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At first, the story's focus was on Heo Im and YK's characters as doctors...showing us the passion for their job, their desire to treat people and all. I see a lot of people complain on how "slow" the development is for the romance part of this series which I will definitely agree with....nearing half of the series and there's still nothing between them. Until the writer decided to cater for it, to the romance part of the story and when she did...the whole story became so cheesy, messy and lost all of the mystery and depth of the story. The slow romance development suddenly bloom in and the focus of the story became all about their romance. The rest of the problems, questions and other things about the story has been forgotten because the focus went on just to show how much these two love each other and they were being prepared to be that star-crossed lovers (not to mention, the unfair treatment that the other characters got...they were completely forgotten and ended up as nothing but "extras") and then the ending...they could've save the story with the ending but noooo they went for another cheesy one.
It's really disappointing, definitely not something I expect from KNG's work.
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It's short, full of emotions and fun to watch. I really loved the story. I love this old-school themed stories, so it was for me. It's based on 1979 time period and I love that time set in here. Plus the Deagu dialect is really nice to hear, something different from Seoul dialect we are used to.
It has 'Reply series' vibe to it - probably heard that from a lot of people - which is true (I started to watch the Reply series because of this drama).
This is a text book story of coming to age and first love and crushes. And it truly is about girl generation - but not that Girl Generation - we can see Jung Hee and Hee Joo who are in their teens, her mother, Auntie, number 3 all this woman, in different age group of that time fighting their own problems and facing them. And it is about girls in different generation coming together.
The boys are here, but they help to make the girls look more stronger, not the other way around. Though it doesn't stop being just about the characters either. It shows - glimpse of it at least - how the people used to live that time, things that shaped our culture into something that we see now. And you can see how much we have changed. And how much we haven't.
Plus you can ship anyone with anyone. You can try the drama, just to see if your's makes to the end or not. (Mine did!).
The actors are all new to me. But I liked Bona. She made Lee Jung Hee more relatable to me. Love Chae Seo Jin. Have a crush on Lee Jong Hyun. I don't know about others but I really liked Do Hee's performance as Shim Ae Sook. To see her character grow like that, it was really satisfying. I really liked that.
The OST's in it's self are nice. But it has some of the top 1970's song in it, both Korean and English. And it makes you feel that old time vibe. Love that.
Some of the moments in this drama are my favorite, so I'm going to re-watch those and probably the whole thing too. Cause why not? It's a nice drama. It's short but the story end's perfectly with it's self.
In the end it gives 'complete' feeling. And I can imagine the rest of the story in my mind. It's a really cool drama. Do watch it!! #HopingForAnotherSeason
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has some Reply vibes, though they didn't focus on the representation of
the past and it's trends, rather than the story of a high school girl
and her friend, the new girl at school. The romance was pretty good,
with the love triangle having a nice conclusion. In addition, the
performances were good and they added with the progress of the drama,
though the drama started a bit slow. Finally, the 8 episodes length was
just enough for the story. So, 7 out of 10.
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This is a drama that could have easily gotten a 10 from me.
Story
The story is one of the strongest aspects of this drama simply because it had a lot of unique ideas and original approaches to them, and second because the mixture of such different concepts was done perfectly and with a nice balance.
First, the main lead suffers from a disease highly uncommon for men to retract (breast cancer), and the drama focuses on his struggle to receive treatment under great pressure. That concept was by far the most original, full of surprises whether comical or dramatic.
The story also focuses in 2/3 of it on a love triangle, a concept constantly used by many romance Kdramas, but here they tried to spice it up by making the two males involved best friends, while the female had gotten over her crush on one and dating the other.
It is also part workplace drama, where all the main characters are working or somehow related to a broadcasting station (reporters, announcers, news casters, directors and sponsors). It gave a nice glimpse on the world of news creation, it was very entertaining and edifying.
But for me, what made the drama shine the most was the romance. It made my heart skip, made me swoon, made me shed tears, and made smile and laugh big time, it was simply PERFECT! Also other than the great chemistry between the OTP, the whole concept of switching places in one-sided crushes, whether through gestures done in secret or words expressed openly, gave a very fresh vibe to the love equation. In the past it was she who was head over heals for him, now it's the other way around.
The drama also featured a side story that involves a relatively large number of side characters. This particular sode plot had its cons and pros, among the pros was the fact that it featured a very fun combination, like two ex-s of the same man who recently passed away, rivals in life and work, both having the wish to bond with their (step)daughter, and even fighting for the same guy now. Where else can you find such a crazy couple! Also, how their characters and relationship evolves was certainly fun to watch, they may have started off as 2 annoying and noisy ajummas, but later they start to grow on you. As for the cons, the whole plot-line kind of developed totally separately from the main plot-line, so the more the main plot-line developed and gained steam, the more you get the urge to fast-forward their scenes. Not saying it was a necessarily boring plot, but while they brought a comedic and near the end a bit dramatic air to the drama, they sometimes kind of felt like a distraction. let me just say that most probably re-watching this drama will involve a lot of fast-forwarding, or at least that's how it was in my case.
Acting
Perfect!!!
Gong Hyo Jin-nim goes without saying shines here as usual. she was funny, lovable, cute, crazy, and sometimes frustrating. I could feel the wish to hug her, pat her on the shoulders, send he a "fighting" yell, and sometimes even slap her on the face, just like how she made her male partners feel at certain moments.
Jo Jung Suk won me over in this drama completely. He delivered a multi-layered character, with many sides to him, perfectly and with great ease. He was believable in every word, movement and action he took (maybe it helped that the writing for his character was one of the best in the drama)
Go Kyung Pyo, did a pretty well job here as well, but I have to be honest, his was not the toughest of characters to play. But he still made me feel for him, and sometimes respect him great time as a character.
Characterization
As I mentioned earlier I found the main lead Hwa Shin (JJS's character) by far the best.
He had his flawed traits of course, but they were all very relatable, and though his character showed seemingly contradicting moments, that in its own sense was the most believable part, he simply felt human, maybe the most in this drama, he felt like he was not just a character on paper but he could actually exist somewhere.
As for our other male lead and third angle of the triangle Go Jeong Wo, he was the perfect rich gentleman, that could have as well easily ended up as the common everyday KDrama chaebol (The guy born with a silver spoon, tsun-dere and hiding a lonely side to him + maybe family issues), but thanks to his friendship with Hwa Shin, this character was given much more deepness. He was a very understanding, kind and open-minded guy who cherishes his best friend above all, and despite the big gap in economic background between them, still makes him feel at home even after meeting in a long time. He simply made me wish I was his pal, for goodness sake.
Pyo Na Ri! Here is a character that most of the time I simply adored and cheered on, and some other times I nearly hated.
She's a strong, independent and hardworking Noona who takes care of her little-bro, and chases after her dreams with all she's got. She's a realistic person, who doesn't live in fantasies, and has a strong sense of her capabilities and aims, bold and always not afraid of expressing herself, whether through words or actions, while at the same time maintaining a strong sense of self-awareness of who she is and where she falls in her workplace. She's a lovable and relatable character through and through, and that's maybe why I couldn't bring myself to hate even when during a certain part of the drama (around episodes 14~20 to be more precise), her character kind of warped and the Pyo Na Ri who always knew how she felt, and never lost sight of what she wanted, her strong will and common sense, just flew out the window, and was replaced by an indecisive and selfish bi**h all of sudden, she was irritating at times, and other times downright obnoxious . It might have been a calculated move by the writer, but sometimes I just felt like screaming at her "Come on already Nari! that's just not so like you".
Writing
Very good script, and highly entertaining story, not to forget a beautiful ending. The pace here was mostly excellent during most of the drama but, I felt like the love traingle tug of war may have lasted a bit too long, it felt kind of draggy and was a source of frustration (thanks to Pyo Na Ri's sudden loss of self-awareness). This particular chunk of the story, I suppose served in giving more sense to the drama's title (other than the incarnate/Hwa Shin pun); because the two main male leads turned into two lumps of Jealousy childishly fighting over a woman, and the full grown-up woman acting dumb like a teenager experiencing her first romance! And though I admit this part had a ton of fun and even hilarious scenes, I nearly hated my favorite female lead! Don't get me wrong but I personally believe that this drama could have nicely fit in a 20 episode format.
Direction
Excellent camerawork and amazing props, but above all what left the most impression on me was something else.
A scene succeeds to be funny or sad thanks to a witty or heartfelt conversation, plus of course the right portrayal and acting from the actors involved, but here this director adds the +alpha factor. combining the right BGM or sound effects, and sometimes making use of signs on screen to express certain notions or feelings of the characters on screen, it was always fun to watch and gave a fresh vibe to the drama.
Music
Another OST full of favorite tracks, especially vocals. Fitting lyrics and scores, as usual (One of the things I really appreciate about KDramas)
So, final say.
Jealousy incarnate is an excellent Rom-Com, unique story and interesting characters with a witty script and full of memorable scenes. Not to forget perfect acting, and a very nice chemistry between the leads. It was by far one of the funniest Rom-Com dramas that I have watched, and would totally recommend. It will make you LOL, cringe, cover face in embarrassment, and make your heart melt and flutter constantly.
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Story (7/10):
In more ways than not, the premise is unconventional - not only by Chinese dramas standards, but in the realm of romance. If one is even slightly familiar with early Chinese history, then the idea of a forced relationship with a man whose ruthless tyranny is more infamous than his merits in unifying what is now China, has all the ingredients for an interesting romance. A romance tying into real historical characters and their famed personalities, leaves one curious to see how this equally unstable yet devoted ruler thaws his way into the heart of the object of his infatuation, after taking her away from the life she wanted and those she loves.
Throw in a second lead (Jing Ke) whose name is synonymous in history with balls rivaling the Great Wall for his assassination attempts on the emperor, and imaginations be running wild from all sorts of directions this story can go, and the immense potential it has. Sounds very ambitious, doesn't it?
And yet it fell flat. Over-saturated with unoriginal, predictable tropes that take away substantial momentum from the bigger picture, and in the end achieved nothing for plot and characterization. Despite active ingredients for what could have been good storytelling and real conflicts, poor characterization is probably what ruined the drama. Characters that garner neither sympathy nor respect, whose actions make no sense of the insensible, and mostly controlled by situations rather than in control of. Drama begins with a plot only to end with none (minus the part where they stuck to history). Seriously, will someone please think of the plot?!
And then there's flashbacks. The only thing more overused is good ol' flashbacks with the cheesy music, to cement itself as extremely lazy, poor writing at its finest. One flashback in particular has me thankful for helping me realize self restraint levels I never knew existed.
Because everytime it comes up the urge to shave myself bald before pulling my hair out from seeing it for the 100000th time is real. To paraphrase another user, the excessive flashbacks is "an insult to audiences as if the lot suffers from amnesia" couldn't be more accurate.
And ultimately, all is left are frustrating characters, unfulfilled potential and whole lot of disappointment.
Acting (6.5/10):
Not much to be said here. The cast does little to connect the audience, poor characterization aside on writers' part. Dilraba is wholly unimpressive as the leading lady , and proved herself as lacking depth to carry heavier roles like her character here. As for Zhang Bin Bin, he delivers as a mean guy with tender moments, but lacks the magnanimous charisma of a unstable frightening ruler that is Qing Shi Huang. Seriously just read up the guy on Wiki for those unfamiliar with Chinese history. Chemistry between the two however, might be the only saving grace for the drama, if ever is one.
Supporting characters played by actors for Han Shen and Li Zhong are more convincing than mains.
Music (7/10): The OST is good. And by OST I mean two songs for the entire 48 episodes. One in particular is the jack of all trades, used for happier moments to tragic ones, rain or shine, Li Er with Jing Ke, Ying Zheng, etc you name it. One can even guess when it cues and where. The producers of this drama tend to have a single favorite for everything, from music to flashbacks. Besides that, the OST reflects well the tragic theme of the drama, and is memorable. Though may be a function of being hounded into one's memory.
Rewatch: (5/10) only reason I can imagine anyone wanting to bother with this is for the leading pair during more romantic moments. One is better off finding those YouTube MVs for all those "swoonworthy" moments instead.
Am I being too harsh? Perhaps. However, as a frequent watcher of Chinese historicals, I can't help but feel unimpressed. Maybe a better writer, production team and leading cast would have brought out a better outcome. Went into this excited but came out with shattered expectations. Unfortunate because the cinematography, filming (minus choppy editing)and costumes are gorgeous, and despite the complaints, I wanted to like this so badly for parts I did enjoy. However redeeming aspects are largely overshadowed by what is not
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Saruman approved!
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