I watched this drama on Viki and had the comments on for the first time in many many drama viewings and I remembered why I did not watch with comments on any longer. I think these were some of the most ignorant and down right childish comments I had seen in a drama. A lot of name calling and basically people bitching about our main female, which I happened to enjoy. I think it was a lot of teenage girls who had an intense crush on Song Joong Ki and didn’t understand the female characters choices, and I assumed many of them have never been in a real relationship to understand the choices someone has to make that may change their lives, so for that I would warn anyone who has never seen this drama to watch it on another site or without the comments on.
The acting in this drama was great, from the four leads to the small characters, the Korean cast of this drama were off the charts. Now I am not here to judge the foreign (non-Korean) actors and actresses in this drama because I know that even though they may be speaking English in their scenes that may not mean they are native English speakers, and many Non-Korean actors (non-Asian) have really weak lines and don’t seem to be well-trained actors and actresses in the first place, along with that I wouldn’t even begin to critique our Koreans for speaking English or another language along with them so to keep it fair I would only ever talk about our Korean or Asian actors Song Joong Ki has been a love of mine for many years and when he left to go to the military I was heart broken, and it is lovely to see him back in the drama scene once again. He definitely did not let down either, the boy is back and man his acting has upgraded some as well. I don’t know where they have acting lessons in the military or the fact that it has made him more of man (though he has always been rather manly to me) I am proud of him in this drama. He sweeps you away with his charm and when he takes charge and when he is cute and funny it is even more endearing. I have not seen Song Hye Kyo since That Winter The Wind Blows which is one of my favorite dramas, and she didn’t disappoint me here either. I thought she did a fantastic job of portraying a woman who is confused and has a lot of things she has to consider when going into a relationship with a man such as Yoo Shi Jin.
Now I know many people did not like her character but I found her realistic and had so much depth and I think she is the type of woman more dramas should portray. A hardworking female who has to consider her options and not just jump head first into a relationship that may cause her emotional harm, unlike many dramas where the female just jumps in head first. Jin Goo was also very good in this drama and his relationship with Kim Ji Won may have even out-shined our leading male and female. Both these actors did a fantastic job in portraying their characters and their story was very heartwarming and breaking. The rest of the cast from the soldiers to the nurses and doctors were all well put and we got to see so many side stories that one may think it would have taken away from the main focus of the show, but without them, there were would be so much less to this drama. Each character had a role that really felt needed for the drama. They all portrayed emotions and their characters to a T and I loved this cast so much, even our bad guy was great.
The music and cinematography for this drama were outstanding. So many good angles and transitions throughout this drama that really need to be praised. I found myself even more fixated due to that. The songs in this drama were also very good, they would get stuck in your head and you had to sing along. The songs brought more emotions to the drama as well, and I was happy to hear some great music in dramas after such a long hiatus from dramas.
Overall I thought that this drama was pretty freaking great, that I can see why it had so much hype for it. Now it was perfect, at all, but it was something that kept you on an emotional roller coaster ride to where you were emotionally attached to all of its characters and wanted the best for them and their lives and family and friends. For those who are in doubt about watching, the probably 3 of you out there by now, I would say hey give it a shot, its worth it.
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I wasn't too keen to watch this initially because it appears to be a food/cooking-centered show. This sort of setting normally does not appeal to me because I find that most shows with a chef don't tend to do realistic portrayals of proper chefs and their difficult and highly-skilled work in the kitchen. Unfortunately, I can't really say that this show made the cut in this aspect, so for those who are a bit more picky in terms of accuracy of portrayals of people in a professional capacity, you might want to close one eye and shut the other on this show when it comes to such scenes.
So, toss accuracy of the chef profession aside and use the cooking theme as the main storyboard on which the whole show rests on. Or rather, use the cooking theme as a main storyboard on which the character of Alin rests on, because this show is really about her.
Alin is an interesting, quirky and rather funny main character on which the whole show revolves around. But what, I think, makes her character pop and stand-out for me (and probably a lot of viewers too), is that she is surprisingly headstrong, assertive and quite marvellously able to stand on her own two feet throughout the entire show. She fights her own cat-fights, and is practically fearless in action whether it be facing down a sea of reporters in press conferences, or facing off against her potential mother-in-law, or in making demands and throwing a tantrum at the point of a gun. She's such a Diva, but yet we can't really hate her, even in her most manipulative, exploitative moments. For crafting a memorable leading lady, this show is pure gold.
The pacing of this show is steady and solid, with side characters and story-arcs being given more than enough air-time to establish personalities, character motivations, back-stories, and forward-movement of plots. I also thought that the script and the way the show evolved was very well-written and I was actually so absorbed in watching the first two-thirds of the show that I hardly used the fast-forward button (which is normally in action for stock character appearances). I personally thought that the show lost some of its amazing momentum in the later one-third, and I wished they could have fleshed out the ending a bit better so that we could sit back and sigh in bliss as we watched our main leads together, but these are minor gripes in the whole scheme of things.
Overall, this is a solid romantic-comedy with a scintillating main character who brings lots of sparkle and pop to this show.
ACTING/CAST
Most of the supporting cast of characters are great. You do have your villains in this show and they can be pretty one-note in terms of character and rather over-exaggerated in terms of portrayal - typical of Thai lakorns - but the main characters are all well-rounded and well-done.
KEN THEERADETH - as Kru Cook/ Pasu/ Din. Ken won another acting award for his role here, and while I can appreciate why because Ken is as good as ever with his ability to emote on-screen, I personally enjoyed his earlier character portrayals in his earlier dramas ('Oum Rak' and 'Sawan Biang') more. His character here is less of a stand-out compared to the main female lead, so I think he was a little over-shadowed here. But still, over-shadowed or not, Ken is as good as ever in being able to bring to life his characters to the screen and make them as different and as distinguishable from other characters he has played in the past. His versatility in the acting department is truly outstanding.
ANNE THONGPRASOM - as Alin. This is Anne's show, without a doubt, and she deserved her best actress acting award in spades. Alin is such a multi-faceted and mercurial character, with mood changes and temperaments as changeable as the wind, but yet Anne is able to hold it all together and knit the various clashing colours of the character into one amazing garment. She is somehow able to make the character of Alin winsome despite all that diva temper-throwing and self-entitled arrogant huffs. We can see why Kru Cook fell in love with Alin despite her crazy character flaws, and in the hands of a lesser actress, this show could have gone completely off the rails and self-destructed. Anne was brilliant here, just absolutely brilliant from start to finish. Standing ovation from the floor.
Chemistry-wise, both Ken and Anne had them in spades, which I've come to expect as par for the course for this pairing. This on-screen couple is incredible at generating that kind of gravitational force that pulls you into their orbit and every single one of their scenes together, regardless of which drama, is just mesmerising.
MUSIC
I admit that the music did not really catch my attention in this show. There was not a lot of over-playing of character theme songs or repetitive soundtracks here which is also a nice change from some of the dramas which bludgeon you over the head with their music score. I guess it must have been sufficiently subtle and good enough to have passed unnoticed and yet not jarring the show or the scenes.
RE-WATCH VALUE
I confess that among the 3 Ken/Anne dramas I've seen, this one currently stands lowest on my re-watch list. Don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic romantic-comedy show, and Anne is just outstanding here, but the relationship dynamic and the emotional feels this show and this coupling incites was not as mesmerising nor as emotionally-provoking as 'Oum Rak' and 'Sawan Biang', for me. But as a stand-alone Thai lakorn, this is still one of the best out there, because really, the Ken/Anne coupling is just head-and-shoulders above their compatriots.
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You wouldn’t think that a story like this would be heart warming. But it is as its base because selfish, and cold people start caring about others and I think that’s rather awesome. They lay down their pride, their ambition, their lives, for the greater good. It’s also nice to see some helpful people that they meet along the way. But it’s a bit weird that they try and be moralistic to their old colleagues about living a better life.
There is also this contrast, that these criminals learned so quickly to become good people, given the right support and context and then there were the corrupt authorities messing things up.
Another thing I liked was how when it was a personal moment for anyone of them, they all looked a little flat and sort of unable to deal with it because they aren’t into emotions haha.
It’s nice when a rag tag bunch get together and learn to get along. There’s a lot of ego and they try and see who can be the most sinister. But it gets old fast. Basically, they’ve all been through a lot and each one thinks he’s the biggest baddest wolf in the room.
Every little attempt at getting along made me smile.
It was amazing actually to see how they stopped fighting amongst each other and began to look out for one another.
There are gangsta politics but there was a nice spin to it. And some surprise loyalties and disloyalties as they explore the hyeong and dongsaeng relationships within the hierarchy of the underworld.
Gu Tak
Our Squad Leader Oh is a surprisingly moralistic guy considering the darkness he portrays. He is also very compassionate and sees the heart and the pain of these hardened guys. I never care much for characters who are already dead, but his flashbacks with his daughter were so sweet and painful.
Jeong Mun
This guy always has his hair in his face. In a way he is the most pathetic out of all of them. The other guys get friendly pretty soon but he’s a hard egg to crack. He’s the psycho pet at the youngest, quietest and most reserved. He’s very nonchalant. Nothing ruffles his feather. He always walks.
Tae Su – contract killer
I loved this character the best. He just gets better and better as the show goes on and the actor is amazing the way he portrays everything so beautifully. He had the best arc and he was always a winner despite the crap things he did and the tragedy that hit him. I like the dignity of this character. He’s very polished and civilised. He is indeed like a wolf. I don’t know if he got in touch with humanity, or he was always quietly human as a contract killer.
“You might be an ass, but your brain works pretty well.”
“We’ll have to find him so he can explain it, right?”
“That’s enough. Should I lose my temper too? Who do you think I’d kill first?”
“Don’t always choose death. First find a way to stay alive.”
“Once we’ve found how to stay alive and have uncovered the truth, there will be plenty of time left to kill each other.”
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Her acting was really good, and so was the main cast.
IU did really good too, and so did the others, but I'm a bit disappointed :( I saw the cast and thought " woah must be a good drama " but thats what it all was, good, not amazing or great, just ok, and if my internet went out I would watch it, but if I had a choice, id must likely just watch Jisoo's few liner parts... But its not total disaster the first two episodes pull you in, its you it went down heel from then out... They could've fixed it, but then they rushed the ending... :(
but if you do plan on watching it, don't let me get in your way, its what you think that matters most.
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The Story picks up a couple of years after where we left off in part one. Here most of the drama is about bringing the two back together, or even finding him. We find that she has been waiting for him all this time, yet he never comes, until finally she is told that he abandoned her. We see the relationship develop between the Takeuchi and Nanami, developing even further into that story plot. We also go through another tragicomic experience of Yano.
A lot happens in this film, and just shows that splitting it up into two parts was a good decision.
Acting/Casting: 9.5
As I said in the first film review, I think they should have casted different actors for the school and for this film. In this film, the casting seemed to be more appropriate towards college age and young adulthood. So compared to the first film, the cast was better suited, which is why I think they were casted in the first place, for this film instead of the first.
Music: 8.0
Just as in the first film, I didn’t really notice the music. So I do not feel like I can give a review on it, in words. Though the fact that I didn’t notice the music says a lot.
Rewatch Value: 7.5
Again, the rewatch value is a little lower than I would normally give it, mostly because a lot of drama happens in this 2 hours. It might not necessarily be a good film to rewatch all the time, but it still is a good sequel and wraps things up at the end.
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I actually enjoyed the storyline. I also enjoyed where they ended the first part of the film series. It was a really fitting ending, and made you want to see the next film. I thought For me the storyline never dragged. I do wish that they would expand a little on the happy times that they went through instead of relying on the drama. I thought the build up to the romance was very well executed.
I have not read the Manga nor have I watched the anime. I found this storyline with no context to either, still very enjoyable and definitely a recommendation to future viewers.
Acting/Casting: 8.5
I have to be honest, at first, I didn’t like the male lead. To me, he wasn’t as handsome as the second male lead, and he did not look he should be in high school. It bothered me slightly that they didn’t recast for the second film, because both leads didn’t quite look like they belonged, given their style. But he grew on me throughout the film, mostly just because he did a fantastic job. Dealing with these type of moody characters is typical in Japanese drama’s, but I liked the complexity of emotions he had throughout. One particular scene for him stood out, when they were looking at his ex-girlfriend’s photo.
The female lead was okay as well. I thought they could have gone with a slightly better lead, in terms of choices, but I find her characterization simple. Which a complex storyline, that was kind of what the role called for.
For casting choices, I thought they should have chosen younger actors for the first film, then used the leads only in the second part. It would have made the impact, For me a little bit better.
Music: 8.0
The music never bothered me. I didn’t particularly take any interest in this film, listening to music wise. I do feel like silence would have been more impactful at some turns, but it worked okay with in this film.
Rewatch Value: 7.0
The reason why this isn’t a highly rewatch value, is mostly just because it has a lot of drama and deals with the significance of death and how it affects those still living. Though it may not be a tough situation for some, others may find it hard to rewatch. Especially ones who have lost loves. Though overall it is a extremely great film, and I recommend it to first time watchers of Japanese romance-school films.
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The story didn't started out pretty much like most of other rom-com drama where both leads started their relationship badly then slowly they fall in love, the leads have met before their 'fated' relationship before and have started liking each other but when they realize the real identity of one another that's when their pride interfering and lots of hilarious hijinks happen between them.
The casting is strong in this drama, I think most of the actors did a good job in portraying their character, especially the leads, Min and Weir.
I've seen Min playing this kind of character in Lah Ruk Sut Kob Fah before, where she think (and try) everything she can do to make her 'royal' marriage didn't happen and she did a very good job in here too as she never give in to her husband thus make their banter and hilarious little revenges to each other the treasure in this drama.
And Weir! Oh My God! I never see him in this kind of character before, I mean sure there were probably a few funny moments in some dramas but not a lot like in this one. And believe me if I said that most of the scenes are saved by his priceless facial acting. I never forget his face when he is throwing tantrum because he thinks his wife is getting married again and that bathroom screaming scene when he got frustrated because of his wife.
Weir might be great in action or romance but he is made for comedy!
Rewatch value? You have too. I've watched this drama maybe more than 10 times and all those times it never failed making me literally laughing out loud.
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Unlike many other dramas, this one had a very disappointing beginning of the story, while it progressed into something that I really enjoyed. Believe me, it got soooo much better towards the end. The biggest issue for me were the characters. Was it the acting? Was it supposed to be like that? The actors couldn't act out simple scenes and made me feel quite awkward, actually. Nam Joo Hyuk's acting in particular. I've seen many of his roles before but playing Habaek didn't suit him. Furthermore, let's take a look at the main female character. I hate it when the female lead is presented as weak and as a crybaby. However, with many negative reviews, I wouldn't completely neglect some of the aspects of this drama. The main focus for me was the OST. Aaaand that's why I gave the music a solid 10. The songs were heartfelt and perfect for the drama, kind of reminded me of Goblin's OST.
Overall, the drama isn't as bad as the people review it. Sure, the acting sucked and it was filled with plot holes, but there are many great scenes that filled me with joy. Would I rewatch it? Probably not. Would I recommend it? Sure, for those of you who have seen all of the brilliant romance dramas out there and you have nothing better to watch.
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I don't like how they portray the main leads here. Ye Hua is too playful than strict and they made Bai Chen weak here rather than having a strong character. All I hear is her screams and she's supposed to be more active rather than standing there screaming. Im not sure if it's the directors's fault or the acting. (Looks doesn't make them suitable for the role, in my opinion.)
For those who want to watch this movie, you better read the novel or watch the drama first or just don't watch this. Be prepared for confusions if you watch this.
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Story
For the storyline, this drma shows a two-sided relationship, which is not good and a good relationship between children and parents. Good relationship between Gu Hai and his father, and bad relationship between Bai Luo Yin with his mother. The drama also presents the love of the Son to his Father and Father to his Son. Really sweet. And the sweet, romantic, and "wild" relationship between Gu Hai and Luo Yin. I do not know how Gu Hai can love Luo Yin, perhaps out of curiosity about Luo Yin's poor life and want to help his and Luo Yin's genius who can remember anything in a single look. Gu Hai's kindness to help Luo Yin quietly is so sweet, Gu Hai's way to get Luo Yin to his attention is sweet. And the scene awaited by the fujoshi and fundashi is a nice bed and kiss scene, looks natural.
Act / Cast
For casts, it was the first time I saw them, and I fell in love with Xu WeiZhou and Huang Johnny they were really handsome and looked good for their first acting in a drama.
Music
Hero, a song from the Family of the Year makes me think of the drama It's Okay That's Love (Korea) really loves it. The opening song is very beautiful.
Rewatch
Pretty good if you want to watch sweet, romantic and "wild" BL dramas.
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A couple of fillers at the start of each episode. They were effective as it reminded me of events that happened. It also took me a couple of episodes to settle into the story properly but by the 7th/8th episode, I was definitely hooked. I''m glad that I didn't drop or put this kdrama on hold. The best episodes IMO are from episode 9 onwards.
The story was really well put together. Even though I didn't really know much about how goblins and grim reapers work in this kdrama, I got to learn some things.. The bromance between the two male leads was great! HAha definitely one of the best in kdrama, no doubt.
The acting was another outstanding aspect of this kdrama! Gong Yoo is such an amazing actor. I remember seeing my first work of his in Train to Busan. I always found him to be an amazing actor. Dong Wook was someone who could deliver a specific emotion just like that. He has such an expressive face. When he was sad, I was sad too. I was moved by his acting the most. Lead actresses KGE and YIN played their parts exceptionally well as well. This whole kdrama was just ethereal.
Finally, the music was SO BEAUTIFUL. I loved all the songs I heard. They played a great role in helping me feel the emotions as I, a viewer, should be feeling at particular scenes. If you don't want to watch this kdrama, at least give the OSTs a chance because they're absolute masterpieces.
I would definitely rewatch this again one day when I have the time. I would probably skip some parts (like the fillers) but I'd definitely be in it for the funny scenes ^_^
BTW Sung Jae did well with his role. It bought some extra fun and ease to all those intense scenes.
Overall, this kdrama is a 9.5 for me
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