Reviews

So I just finished watching the bride of habaek and I just don't understand where all the hate is coming from. Sure, it isn't an epic drama that deserves a 10/10 but it's still enjoyable at the least. It does not keep you on your toes or on the edge of your seat from start to finish but it had its funny moments and some suspense for the first episodes.
And I actually thought that shin se kyung's and nam joo hyuk's acting was good even though many thought the opposite.
After I read the reviews and comments, I was almost sure that I wouldn't be giving it more than 3 but it deserves the 7, I had lower expectations . It had its slow moments and was not that intense but it was an okay drama.
Many dramas were worse but did not get all this criticism ( heirs, madame antoinette, shopping king louis, warm and cosy,heartstrings, love in the moonlight and so on...).

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Today I want to talk about a Korean drama that is considered to be a total flop. Yet, many reviews from people I know consider this drama to be one of their personal favorites from 2016. With an abundant amount of mixed reviews surrounding this historical drama, I wanted to go back to 2016 and watch it for myself.

"Scarlet Heart: Reyo" is a 2016 South Korean Historical drama that starred many talented and well-known actors and actresses. The main characters were played by one of the nation's sisters' IU and heartthrob actor Lee Jung Ki. With such an array of actors and actresses and a plethora of artists jumping in to make the OST, this drama should have been considered a major hit in South Korea. Yet, many criticized it for its writing, original soundtrack, and performances.

I do, however, want to say that I am a huge fan of many Historical dramas. From the settings to the political turmoil, to the romance and music put into many historical dramas, I find them to sometimes be the most interesting types of story telling in the South Korean drama world. When hearing many mixed reviews about this drama, and seeing the average rating in South Korea, I wanted to dive into it with an open mind and open heart. Many times I have found myself loving dramas that seem to be disliked or not as appreciated as others. However, on the other hand, I have found myself disliking many beloved dramas out there. I wanted to go in with no expectations with this drama so that I could give my honest opinion to you all.

This drama had a lot of things going for it and you can see that it was on the cusp of being a truly amazing drama, but there were some things that held it back. I believe that even though there were some flaws in this drama, that the reason in which it is considered a commercial failure is due to poor timing when it was released. The dramas out there may have had more compelling storylines than this one did, which is a reason that it had such low viewer ratings. Watching this drama on it's on, and not comparing it to others at the same time, I found that I enjoyed the show. THe plot to the drama, may not be the most compelling, however, there were sub-stories that truly had me in my feelings. I found that the stories of both Court Lady Oh and Madam Hae were ones that truly had me in tears. Their storylines that intertwined with our main character really shook me to the core and I will admit I was in an ocean of tears during their screen time. The end story between our main character played by IU and Wang Jung also had me feeling quite emotional at the end, and the story of Wang Eun towards the end also came to an emotional end, I can not deny that. Our main story had many ups and downs, at times I was truly invested in it and at others I wanted it to really give me a little more. The romance that was between our main characters and our secondary lead, I found myself rooting for the secondary lead until his character development kicked in. After the changes that the character went through I found myself more on the main male leads side, however, the writing in this drama has me conflicted. The way the writers developed the characters was confusing, I think there were truly no "good" main leads, many of them made choices that are questionable. Even IU's character had choices she did that made me question whether or not she should be doing things she was doing. I would say things about the ending, and how it wrapped up the story from being a not happy ever after ending, which I enjoy those because not everything needs a happy ending, into an oh well if you look at it this way its sort of happy ever after kind of threw me off. I think that perhaps they were planning on this drama to be a huge success and planning for another season of it, which I wouldn't mind but considering its rating its is most likely not ever going to happen.

ans but the ending left you to guess, and mostly was due to over thinking that the drama would truly be a hit and another season would unfold from it. I don't blame them for thinking it would be a hit because there were many elements of this drama that were outstanding, the cast was huge and had many amazing actors and actresses and the music was filled with artists that you could recognize with songs that would get stuck in your head. However, at the end of the day I think this drama just did not get released at the right time, and if it was airing right now (as of 9/11/2017) I think it would be doing pretty well, much better than when it aired. Overall, I liked the drama. I see why some think it was a flop and why some love it. Myself, I'm in between, there are many elements in which I enjoyed and many where the drama was questionable. It is far from a bad drama I will say that, is it a master piece? No. Obviously not. But in the end Scarlet Heart: Reyo took me on a journey of love and time travel that I enjoyed and I did become emotionally invested in, so I can't knock it for that. It was a good time, and I would recommend it to anyone.d could take away from the moments. However, I still really enjoyed the music. I am torn between loving the music and disliking its usage in this drama. I cant decide how I truly feel all together but I do know that I did enjoy the music for what it is.Many criticized the acting in this drama. I, however, don't see a real problem with it. Yes there were times I was unimpressed by IU's acting or sometimes some of the princes weren't strong, such as the idol Baekhyun and Seohyun, but as an overall package, I felt that most of the actors and actresses most of the time did a pretty great job. They allowed me into their world and I believed their pain, sadness, anger and every other emotion they felt. So when it comes to the criticism for their acting, I can see why some people found it to be poor but I personally am okay with it and some of the actors really did a great job in my opinion. There is a large cast so I can't really go into who did well and who did not and if I wanted to I couldn't help but spoil some of the scenes for those who have not seen the drama yet, which I won't do. Another criticism people had for the drama was the original sound track or OST for short. Now I am on board with this opinion, to be honest, but not in a way many may think. I loved the soundtrack. I found myself singing to all the songs and there were many well produced and catchy songs through out the drama. The problem I had with it was, it did not fit the setting on the drama. I felt like many of the songs were too poppy to fit into a historical drama. I enjoy my historical dramas OSTs to have more of an authentic sounding song to the time frame and these did not. I felt like they were out of place, d could take away from the moments. However, I still really enjoyed the music. I am torn between loving the music and disliking its usage in this drama. I cant decide how I truly feel all together but I do know that I did enjoy the music for what it is.

This drama had beautiful sets, makeup, and costumes. The music for what it was, was beautiful and had many catchy songs through out. For the most part, the acting in this drama was great. The plot was a tad bit weak, with an ending that satisfied you for the first 3/4s but the ending left you to guess, and mostly was due to over thinking that the drama would truly be a hit and another season would unfold from it. I don't blame them for thinking it would be a hit because there were many elements of this drama that were outstanding, the cast was huge and had many amazing actors and actresses and the music was filled with artists that you could recognize with songs that would get stuck in your head. However, at the end of the day I think this drama just did not get released at the right time, and if it was airing right now (as of 9/11/2017) I think it would be doing pretty well, much better than when it aired. Overall, I liked the drama. I see why some think it was a flop and why some love it. Myself, I'm in between, there are many elements in which I enjoyed and many where the drama was questionable. It is far from a bad drama I will say that, is it a master piece? No. Obviously not. But in the end Scarlet Heart: Reyo took me on a journey of love and time travel that I enjoyed and I did become emotionally invested in, so I can't knock it for that. It was a good time, and I would recommend it to anyone.

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I'll keep this simple.

STORY. Superb storyline. Having badminton as supposed to be the central plot, the writers explored beyond the sport. For me, it's not about badminton. It's not about autism. It's about sibling rivalry. That's the very core of the story and it was presented magnificently. There is no antagonist, only the products of mistakes from people who caused the problems and conflicts of the main characters.

ACTING. Stellar performance. I expected a lot from Tor and Sky but they have still delivered more than what I have expected. I adore their chemistry as brothers here. Tor deserves awards for portraying his role. I can't think of other actors of his generation who can do what he did.

MUSIC. I'm a Thai series fan but I can't read and write in Thai. Despite that, the soundtrack used in the series is truly remarkable. The matches became more intense because of the musical score. The nursery rhyme used in the emotional and sensitive scenes moved me. The way Dong calms Gym down is marvelous. It gives me chills up until now. That's my favorite scene ever! Whoever thought of that is genius.

REWATCH VALUE. This is the weakest spot of the story. The editing of the series is a bit scattered. The story has become predictable because of the sequencing of events. The building up of some scenes takes a bit long. There are elements that are repetitive and unnecessary. It's not as tight as I hoped it would be.

Nonetheless, it's an incredible ride. You'll get to appreciate and love your family more after watching Side By Side. For me, its pilot episode is the best Project S episode so far. It will be just difficult to top that.

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Modern day "Sleeping Beauty"

A very unique storyline that failed in convincing me of the romance. The revenge aspects were certainly persuasive and I appreciated that the writer tried to keep some consistent themes throughout the drama i.e., revenge is a cycle, circumstances are what drives a person's actions, etc.

Yong Pal was a character that could do no wrong. He was so perfect that it was hard to endear myself to him. Similarly, all the other characters were so unlikable that I didn't really like any of them either (other than some fantastically written supporting characters) and therefore was not invested in the ending. At the end I really didn't care whether or not there was a happy ending.

Same writer as The K2 and if you've watched The K2 you'll see very similar vibes especially in the beginning of the drama. This makes me think the writer is very good at laying out unique storylines and a fast moving plot but cannot write in any romantic development. Cute romantic moments between the leads were hard to watch because it was so unconvincing to me.

I still gave the story a somewhat high rating because of its uniqueness. Kim Tae Hee's character is interesting as a female chaebol and I only wish to see more of that in today's dramas.

Overall, don't watch this for the medical stuff or romance but watch it for an engaging plot where a perfect man rescues a perfect (on paper anyway: looks beauty brains) woman and have a fairytale perfect romance. No fights between this couple! Their challenges lay in ideological differences and external circumstances. Not realistic but that's what we watch kdramas for!

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I'm watching this drama because I've been watching the original drama from Korea. And it is the first Thai drama that I watched and the result was beyond my expectations, the drama is really good, the Thai remake has its own characteristics even though they remake drama from other countries.

Story
For the story is not much different from the original, just plus a few things that characterize the Thai and it is beautiful and sweet. The story develops gently and sweetly. Misunderstanding between Mike and Sushar, marriage contract and pretending to be husband and wife, and living together make love grow between them. The best scene is when Mike and Sushar kiss while shooting the ad and when Mike makes an MV aimed at Sushar.

Act / Cast
For casts I just saw them first and I fell in love with Mike, Sushar, Utt and Jane. Mike and Sushar performed the right and sweet acting, the chemistry between the two was lively, seeing their scenes made me smile on my own. Scenes when they fight, begin to fall in love, tease each other, mutual attention, jealousy, and climax when a separation occurs. They are presenting great acting. Not forgetting the acting from Utt and Jane which was nice as well.

Music
Very very very fond of the music presented in this drama. Nice opening and closing music, and an MV made by Mike, when he and Sushar split up.

Rewatch
It's really recommended to watch it repeatedly. Drama remake and original, both have their own superior side.

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"When Duty Calls" had everything to be an almost "Descendants of the Sun" Chinese version, however the lack of action and military scenes spoiled the context of the drama, for those who watched it saw that the first episodes were fantastic but as the plot uncoiled loses focus and brilliance, down literally downhill, story barely told is the problem, the director did not know how to give creativity to maintain the level of satisfaction required, the novels are weak, the cast though jovial and acting could do nothing with a poorly written script. The soundtrack until it is very good, the narrative was lost and in the end it was a disastrous drama for lack of planning.

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SOTUS is the second BL-themed drama I watched. The hazy theme that was lifted into a drama is very good, as it is quite rare that this theme is raised as the core of the story in a movie or drama. SOTUS teaches quite a lot of positive things about the importance of respecting the elderly and caring about the environment around us. SOTUS teaches the importance of maintaining solidarity, togetherness in diversity, and keeping a tradition passed down from generation to generation.

Story
The usual haze of freshman was picked up and packed into an interesting groovy story, embellished with sweet love stories from Krist Sangpotirat and Sinto Ruangroj. Very interesting I think the theme of hazing is taken and described with a straightforward and clear.

Act / Cast
For casts, first saw I was not interested. But Sinto Ruangroj and Krist Sangpotirat developed these two characters to be more alive. They build a sweet and funny chemistry. Every episode I wish them to date soon. However, seeing the aggressiveness of Sinto to get Krist's love is really sweet plus the hesitation experienced by Krist is very funny. For the acting the main roles are good enough although still require more development so that the story can be conveyed with their expression and gesture.

Music
I love the opening music. Really nice to hear. Great song !!

Rewatch
Highly recommended to watch over and over again !!

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A light romance drama, which was based, however, on a silly idea. The girl believes in luck and she goes through rituals or consults her shaman before her every action. That's okay enough. But, half way through, she just changes her beliefs just like that. I know love is strong etc etc but still, I would have preferred a better representation of the girl's personality and inner thought, as her beliefs weren't unreasonable for her. Maybe the cause of the whole romance driven story was the fact that they might wanted to make a light romance drama rather than a little more dramatic. But still, if so, they shouldn't have created such a dramatic background for her. Anyway, other than that, the drama was okay, with a strong and funny start, but with a so so ending. The love story was cute and the couple had some chemistry, but the girl got a little annoying down the way. Still, it was okay, with some great performances. So, 4 out of 10.

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2 Moons The Series is the first BL-themed series I watched. Ever had a couple of times watching the same themed in movies from Thailand and they made them very sweet.

Story
The story adapted from the BL Novel is quite interesting. They make every scene sweet but not excessive, fit the portion. Although the fujoshi and fudanshi must have wanted a more "wild" scene (including me :v)

Act/Cast
For the casts I just first saw them, handsome face became one of the fascination for this series and honestly I was interested in watching because I wanted to see their faces :). For the acting the main roles are quite natural but still look stiff, but overall can make the audience drift with every scene. Bass Pinnirat is pretty good in playing the Uke's figure, and acting from God Thanit who plays "perfect" Seme's figure is pretty good too. They are very sweet to each other. Copter Panuwat and Kimmon also received intese attention on episodes above 6.

Music
For music they make it fit for every scene. The tone is good enough to hear, minus in the language. (Because I do not know the language.)

Rewatch
Highly recommended !! And very entertaining and will not be boring if watched repeatedly

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Before you even consider watching this movie, be prepared to have your heart moved beyond return.

Where do I even begin with the beautiful movie? I watched this movie in the cinemas without any idea what I was going to be watching, no trailer and no synopsis at all. But the movie captivated me from the beginning. On surface level, it seems like a light-hearted, slice of life type movie revolving around a loving father and his daughter, but little did I know it was so, so, so much more than that.

There’s so much to say about this movie, but I’ll start with entertainment factors. If you enjoy plotlines that are based of real-life stories, tackle the human experience, explore history and how they shaped the world today, all whilst mixed with comedy here and there, then this is for you. If you have no idea whether or not you like any of the just mentioned, then this movie essentially follows the experience of a normal human stuck in a political revolution. Now, some of you might hear politics and cringe instantly, but A Taxi Driver manages to convey the whole plotline and context effortlessly without delving deep into the political history at all, making it a foreigner friendly film if you don’t know much about Korean political history.

A Taxi Driver also really does an amazing job at capturing human emotion. There are parts of the movie that are just so raw, sometimes you hate the main character, sometimes you love him, but despite whatever his actions, we could still understand and sympathise. Of course some of the situations are probably dramatized for effect from the true story, but in terms of the overall context of protests and uprising, it definitely conveys the aspects involved in these parts of history.

I would definitely recommend a packet of tissues and some social justice warrior spirit to watch this. Overall I think it’s a very important film because it really sheds light on some issues that we take for granted today (e.g. a free media!). So if you’re not really into this type of entertainment, I would still suggest you watch this just to learn a little more about things like protests and democracy.

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I don’t usually write reviews but this movie really delivered. Once I saw the trailer and found out it was going to be playing in my local cinema, I decided to go for it. I honestly can’t say I laugh much when watching movies in the cinemas, but man, I was cackling the whole time.

If you’re after an original and riveting crime plot, then Midnight Runners might not be your thing. In terms of the storyline, it’s pretty generic and you basically know exactly what’s going to happen from start to beginning. The strongpoint of this film was the chemistry between Park Seo Joon and Kang Ha Neul and how well this chemistry allowed for the perfect balance between great comedy and seriousness.

Whilst a light-hearted movie, it also delves slightly in the moral dilemmas that people who work in law enforcement face, there were definitely moments that made you feel helpless and sympathetic to the characters. However these conflicts were addressed well and once again, the humour within the movie does clean up and negative emotions you might feel whilst watching it.

This is definitely a pick-me-up movie, I can guarantee that after watching this most of you will walk away feeling happy inside.

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Don't believe the poster, it's nothing like it.
It is however ...different.
Even though it was made as an parody the story line has nothing to do with it - except the time traveling and the leads being rich.
It starts off really well and I thought it will something different then what it originally became. After episode 2 the story just went haywire.
I kept watching because I actually wanted to know what the hell will they do at the end. And it was funny.

The acting wasn't bad, per se but it wan't good either. It was some where in between 'what the hell' and 'okay?'
Zon Yang looked really pretty.

The only thing that I actually enjoyed in this drama is the opening song. It was amazing. It was sung by the male lead Wen Zhang. This song was the reason why I continued to watch it.

It was a funny thing to enjoy if you are looking for something different and out of the ordinary. Just don't expect much of it.

PS : A lot of people were asking where they can watch this. So I watched this (in English of course) in ViKi.Com - it's a website. You guys can find it there.

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For those who think to watch this show I want to tell that this is not a lakorn or movie.
It's a documentary in respect to the king of Thailand who died in oct 2016.
The whole country is sad and they respect their king as their father. So this is specially to follow up the kings big dream.

Story is to follow the kings big dream for the people of Thailand. And people should not just dream they have to achieve it by doing it in their daily life. Here push who loves the king wants everyone to have a dream in their youth. But he fails to respect his dad, once he finds the real meaning of respecting the father of nation is starting from respecting his own dad, he starts to love and respect him. Like that everyone do help each other and make Thailand as a good nation for people to live.

Acting is good and I m satisfied with each characters. As u can see most of the actors are from ugly duckling perfect match and u prince Series, so I love to see all of them together again in this show.

Music suits the documentary but I m not happy to hear it again.

Since it's a documentary I don't think I will rewatch it.

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Loved it! I'd like to describe it as a light-hearted rom-com which does have a slight twist.

I'm sure for some, the storyline in general may be meaningful in the aspect that outward appearances should not define a person and how people are not as they appear. The realism of this opens up the emotive aspect of this drama, being that you really should treat people equally and with respect, otherwise as a person you change and lose such dignity. It's also fair to say there is a revenge theme present
(karma if you'd prefer).

So I thought I'd break it down based on certain features:

Cast: The lead roles chosen couldn't be any better in my opinion. Sang-uk Joo, played a comedic and very loving partner and gosh that smile! And Han Ye-seul is just beautiful. Through the heart wrenching parts, I felt them and yes, there were tears. Just even the small aspects such as camera angles and the focus of other bodily actions to represent internal pain makes you connect to the characters in depth. Honestly the comedy aspect of it did have me feeling second-hand embarrassment too! How anyone can think of half the things these two were thinking just baffles me..

Music: I'm a bit particular when it comes to OST and I was pleasantly surprised by the songs chosen. So I decided to put some in rating order to show my personal best..
1) Gemini- Only I didn't know https://youtu.be/Xrmmg3I2M9k
2) Lee Hyun- Though it hurts, it's okay https://youtu.be/bVi3ZybRt_w
3) Jong Hyun- She https://youtu.be/uUbTdVZxjig
4) M.C The Max- Looking at you https://youtu.be/tUQY28L7cCU
5) Veloce- Like it's all forgotten https://youtu.be/XhkUMuXhXz8

Honest opinion is that I also did find it somewhat repetitive in some parts of the drama where you're sitting there like "come on let's just speed this up a bit" however I found that it was an addictive drama to watch. For the re-watch review, I can honestly say there are many Kdramas that I have seen more than 3 times and this for sure is one of them. The chemistry, heartache and the comedy is a perfect balance and the underlying meaning is clear to viewers. Give it a shot and see where it takes you!

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