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Yes, it happened to me after I finished Tunnel in one sitting for two days. After the last and final episode I just couldn't see myself in the mirror. Well that doesn't necessarily mean this drama is a perfection or a masterpiece. Despite having number of flaws and loopholes, it could live up to my expectations.
Although practically the concept of time traveling is superfluous and unrealistic but the integration of both past and present to solve the crime is riveting yet not extraordinary. As a viewer I appreciate the way the writers managed to maintain a cliff-hanger per episode and how one by one a particular mystery unraveled. Any sort of art/literature/entertainment can be preposterous but to make it credulous to the viewers is where the makers can show their creativity. All the credit goes to the scriptwriters who managed it pretty nicely.
In the beginning, few episodes have individual crime story which were solved meticulously by the detective team, however, the main story was there and gradually each puzzle pieces were weaved in a single thread. Though all the bits and pieces were scattered initially but the story maintained coherence till the end. Much confusion was not created with the time traveling factor. The whole drama is like a web of riddle solved rigorously. Overall the story writing was commendable but during episodes 12-16 it became excessive. For instance, if we squeeze too much lemon juice in our rice rather than giving a slight sour flavor, the whole rice would turn bitter in taste. This is what happened with Tunnel during these episodes. The flow was fascinating but due to excessive twists and turns for finding the main culprit, it kind of lost the ultimate thrilling essence in the middle part in my opinion.
One interesting thing is, they tried to depict prisoner's dilemma (a concept of game theory in economics) in a theft case but did not show it vividly. I can remember clearly this whole concept was portrayed exquisitely in the drama named "I Hear Your Voice".
On another note, indignation is inevitable upon any murderers or in general any wrong doers, nonetheless it made me ponder upon a particular thing. That is, giving a child a healthy and fine environment to grow up is extremely crucial. It is true that all the heinous murders took over negligible issues but when the culprit was a little boy from then on he had nurtured grave darkness inside him. From his early childhood the unsound experiences he gathered, later triggered him to exploit himself in a psychotic manner towards gaining aberrant pleasure. It all comes down to the upbringing, nurturing and giving a child a loving environment. Compassion can change a person at a tender age.
Moreover, I appreciate the depiction of the female character, Professor Shin Jae Yi. For goodness sake, they refrained for at least once by not showing a sassy, unintelligent and screaming woman. Shin Jae Yi is stoic but a smart, competent and educated woman who came up with brilliant clues regarding solving the cases. Loved the tough at the same time sweet bromance of Gwang Ho and Sun Jae. Love the comradeship among the fellow colleagues. As I always say Korean writers are best at portraying human relationship and emotion among each other. Hats off to the writers for that. All the casts more or less shown good acting skill though not phenomenal.
Necessary to mention that the last episode is utterly heart wrenching and is beautifully wrapped up. Especially visiting every victim's home and paying respect to each of their family was wonderfully done. This little message "Saving Life is important" is laudable.
On the other hand, background score is reasonable with the situation and I could find only one OST named Circle of Life by Kim Dong Uk. It's soft rock which gets slightly heavy at the end sounds superb.
In conclusion, this drama has the characteristics to put a viewer at the edge of their sit but comes with few flaws. If the errors and flaws can be overlooked, it's pretty interesting. I felt like I have completed reading a thriller novel. For a crime drama genre lover, I don't think it would be a bad choice for giving it a shot.
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What made me watch - the main two leads, who are stunning actors in their own right and did a fantastic job on the story they were given. Where we get lost is somewhere in eps 10,or 11, or 12 the story-line couldn't decide what to do with this outstanding female detective "lady". The drama is set up like individual scenarios of heinous to bad stories that never got linked until eps ???
As for endings, this will rank as one of the most ill-prepared ending and should be entered as an example of "how to murder a drama".
S2? cannot see these actors coming back to this mess.
What lacked? Character backstory, development, and excessive time spent on silly antics of non essential characters& stories, bad writing, cliches and poor direction giving an overall sense of LOST.
ReW?: Why? poor direction, writing is not going to improve with time.
Overall: watch at own risk, watch for the main leads ONLY, have LOW expectations for any resolution that makes sense. Hope there is no S2 with this caliber of actors who were wasted.
Major drama-lords FAIL - maybe that's what they wanted - a poorly rated show to prove intelligent mature females dramas do not sell or work in drama world. Sorry fellas, we know better. It sells if done well!
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The word "romantic" I think it suits the drama, the story is about the romantic ideas of what it is to be a doctor vs the reality, all this sounded very good and would have been better if the story had been better written, the Drama is full of clichés and inconsistencies and doesn’t go deep enough in all these emergency cases in which there are important issues like life and death as well as the ethics of a doctor that might have been important if it would have been treated in a more realistic way, it only mentioned these issues superficially and worse still ends up giving moral lessons, "family is the most thing important even if they despise you" "If you are ambitious, you have a very pure motivation or a very perverse one "and so many more lessons taken from makjang dramas. The romance in this story wasn’t really necessary, and it was only interesting in the first episode, the drama about Professor Kim’s past and the rivalry for power with Do Yoon Wan it was interesting at times but it was exactly the same as in other korean medical dramas. The best part was the medical part, really well done but it was a bit unrealistic since at one moment they had 2 patients and little staff and 5 episodes later they had 3 more doctors and 20 patients with very specific diagnoses (I mean…. How?)
I saw that everyone liked the performance of Han Seok Kyu as Professor Kim, but I was more surprised by Yoo Yeon Seok as Dr.Kang the only character I found to be more realistic who faces his ambition, his romantic ideas every now and then And his ethics during almost all the drama, the only character with a real development. Jin Kyung as the nurse Oh, Seo Eun Soo as the resident as well as Han Seok Kyu I thought their performances were good, the other supporting actors I think they also did a good role, my only problem was Seo Hyun Jin with her exaggerated acting in almost all episodes, her character had nothing interesting except her past but she could have done much better, the drama could have been better with another actress or without this character, I don’t know how she went from Another Miss Oh to this Lousy performance.
Kim Hye Soo was definitely the greatest actress of this drama, she only appears in the last episode, I don’t know how the producers didn’t hired her for the entire drama, she was the best thing that this drama had and o she only was in a few scenes, if you haven’t seen the special episode I recommend you to see it only for her.
Honestly, I don’t remember the music. I would rewatch this drama although maybe not all episodes, and just because I enjoyed almost all the medical stories.
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Acting here was great, all the cast did well and the fight scenes were awesome (though honestly I hoped for more). It’s close to those Chinese movies were they have great fight scenes, of course this is not some kungfu flying kind, so expect that there’s less flying and less martial arts. If you like Anime, this movie is comparable to Naruto with their ‘abilities’ and Ninjas (and it’s Japan. LOL.) I will point out a few comparison, with images, later on.
If there is something I do not like here is that I felt that it was rushed. I mean this is a 1 hour and 50 minutes less movie but it felt lacking. I would have preferred if they made it a 2 hour movie and showed more of the love story between Oboro and Gennosuke. The story did not even bother showing or at least slightly explained how they fell in love being from two different clans, and their clans are even enemies to begin with.
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This drama came to me one night when I had absolutely nothing to do and was still suffering from Goblin and Healer withdrawal syndrome. Perhaps because in my very young lifetime, I have been through company mergers & acquisitions twice: the first as a director of the company originally owned by the investment firm with majority stakes to the merger & acquisition, hence I was part of the integration team to ensure the other company we ate up seamlessly blended to our big picture, and second as part of the consultants that a global investment company (similar to Gold Partners!) brought in, later to be integrated as part of senior management, to make the recently-acquired company profitable for selling later on.
I think this background was primarily why this drama got me hooked. I loved how the writer kept upping the stakes so the business-side of the drama ended up riveting and actually complementary to the romance story line, not disjointed and unrealistic as that of, say, Doctors. I am glad the writer did not dumb us down (in fact, my cousin and I started having serious discussions about financial markets and financial instruments because of this drama!)
I have seen complaints about how Kim So Yeon's character, Kim Sun Jeong (KSJ), felt awkwardly flat and powerless, but I think the reaction stems from the perspective that this is a story about the two main leads, its hero and heroine. However, when you come to think of it, and if KSJ's internal monologue during the last few minutes of the final episode is any indication, this is Jung Kyung Ho's character, Kang Min Ho (KMH), story-- his evolution from being the best heartless corporate raider in the planet to being a competent and selfless CEO who also happens to find time to still love. Please view the story with this type of lens. It will make the entire series justified and enjoyable.
And then the star of the show, Jung Kyung Ho. I can totally see how his face and overall appearance made him perfect for his cruel and angtsy role in Cruel City but to take on the role of KMH showed his range. In his first incarnation, he was much like his role in Cruel City (although of course since this is also a rom-com, his sporadic childish outbursts in front of his trusted secretary Oh Woo Shik made his cruel side a touch lovable) and as the episodes progressed, the more I understood and empathized at why this man-child acted the way he acted. Towards the middle, we see Jung Kyung Ho act like a man “possessed”— keeping his character as KHM still true to character but resisting his changes every step of the way. By the time we get to his third incarnation, which I fondly call KMH 2.0, we see him channel his cruel intelligence into a more positive light while also making sure he has time for love. Jung Kyung Ho was so great, the alternative title should have been [Audience] Falling for Kang Min Ho (see what i did there).
Anyway, if you want an intelligent drama where the characters don’t fall out of character and the settings the characters were in were given due respect, take some time to watch this drama. The first couple of episodes may feel slow (really, things only started moving faster after the heart operation) but hold on to your horses cos this drama might just take you in for a surprising ride.
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This is a very very twisted drama, I mean you're gonna see most of the things we see in Western Dramas.This is my 4th lakorn so far so good, as I understand Thai people are a little bit less conservative comparing to Koreans & Chinese.
It's still a boo boo to make a kid out of wedlock, but it's understandable and I also support that ideology.as a child needs both father and a mother
We see a woman Karat who had 3 unsuccessful marriages both cheated on her and died.
Her late 3rd husband not only had an affair and impregnate her childhood friend but he had cheated on her with several other women as well.
Karat learns that her husband impregnated her best friend after her husband's funeral. When she learnt that her husband died she rushes to hospital but she had a traffic accident, she stops a car that happens to be Pisut's car, after Pisut took her to hospital she says I don't like owing to ppl, she gives him her wedding ring, During the funeral Karat goes into a very bad mental-psychological state, she tries to kill herself and rescued by Pisut, She already previously saw Pisut on that day while she was on an event, and her best friend was with her, (Sai Nampeung) Nampeung sees Pisut and gives him a look and that moment is very important because that single scene is giving a lot of hints of about the upcoming episodes the relationship between Karat, Pisut and herself..
This already made 3 in a day....
Later on their path Karat & Pisut crosses a couple of more times and Pisut saves Karat a couple of more times :) this only happens in dramas both bumping into the same guy a couple of times in a day and both being saved by the same guy a couple of more times.
Karat is a rich, spoiled woman and she has got insecurities because of her previous experiences.
However Nampeung is quite the opposite she was always jealous of her friend who was always good to her, she's jealous of her friends wealth & lifestyle and at the end she snatches her husband and falls pregnant, after the guy's death, she finds the guy's mother and break the pregnancy news, but the mother says you're own your own, he already have a legal wife who's here sitting, and my son never wanted to have kids.. So she had a slap from that side..
She's still not over anything this time she tries to steal Pisut from Karat and play all the dirty tricks in the book, but Pisut is in love with his wife, he mentions a couple of times that he sees her as a colleague nothing more than this could happen in between them.
Karat might have insecurities but she's a strong woman, she's honest, she has a child like personality when showing love, she's jealous of her husband, ( any woman would, especially the one's that have bad experience would be more, as they'd be scared what if the history repeats itself)
Actually Karat has got 2 more sisters, one of them is a doctor, both sisters are beautiful.
Their mother always accuses their dad of having an affair with Pisut's mother. i believe that's why Karat is like that, her mother's influence.
Nampeung doesn't only try to pursue Pisut, she also have an affair with Siwa a rich, careless chaebol, he is the fiance of the doctor sister.
Nampeung does her best to fool Karat that her husband is having an affair with her..
Nampeung spends all her time chasing for men, instead of looking after her child
The maid is one of the characters I love in this drama, After Karat got married she moved into Pisut & Karat's house, she is more than a maid, she does what a best friend does for Karat.
Nampeung manages to create big marital problem between Karat & Pisut.
Nampeung as being the mistress of Siwa she leaves her lipstick on Siwa's car so that doctor fiance would find and breaks up from him.
But let me tell you this Siwa is not like Pisut, he can easily tell fck off to Nampeung, after the lipstick ( incase if you are wondering that Lipstick is Yves Saint Laurent 'Rouge Volupté Pink in Paris that's one of the best selling shade)
the thing is Nampeung have hopes of snatching a rich handsome husband whether he's single or married.
( moral story easy comes easy goes)
Kasat genuinely loves her husband.
Siwa proposes to doc sister with his deceased mothers wedding ring..
Nampeung is seriously gone mental after the death of the ex-husband of Karat. She needs to be shut into an institution. She is basically a mistress and not giving up on this, as for Siwa a person with a set habit won't change it... His father had many women so he takes his dad as an example
Other than Karat's ma it's always Pisut's ma trying to help them, unlike the other dramas she's not the evil one here..
The thing is Pisut is an idiot guy, how can he be so blind to the games of a simple town bike.
At the end Nampeung fell pregnant from Siwa and got rejected by him, this is the 2nd guy who rejects her, she is not a loveable person so I don't feel sorry about her but she goes and tells Pasat that she's pregnant from her husband and as a proof she shows her his jacket.. If I were Pasat I'd either kill that woman or kill my husband bec that's too much any woman would go crazy, she caused another marital problems in between Pisut and Karat, and they got divorced, Nampeung goes to Siwa's houses announces herself as his new wife, poor mother is shocked and disgusted. ofcourse a woman like her won't stop just pretending that she's pregnant from Pisut,
During this time Pisut really missed Pasat, and she moved into Pisut's home, Pisut and his mother left the palace, she's living on her own and pretending to be pregnant from Pasat, and her baby is looked after by another woman, she calls her aunt. When that lady finds her and tells her that your baby needs you, he's hungry he needs milk, she says I'm pregnant I'm trying to find a dad for my baby, take care it of yourself.
She caused so many problems both for herself, people who cared for her, Pisut, Pasat and her family, anyone related close to her got hit by Nampeung.
On the sister's wedding Pisut's mother tells Pasat the truth that Pisut lied to her to protect her, Nampeung is not pregnant from Pisut.
Siwa begs for mercy not to tell it to sister but it's too late, sister already heard everything she says I won't marry you..
She runs off from her own wedding.
One mistake just for fun, caused him to lose the woman he loves, so the history repeated itself, he made the same mistake his father did, being unfaithful.
Finally swords been pulled out, Pandora's box is open, we see that Nam always been jealous of Pasat, poor Pasat she only saw her a best friend but she's been stabbed by her, not only her but also her sister, her husband, her sister's fiance.
The pool scene I don't know how they can be so stupid enough to think that we'll think she's gonna get drown in the water that's coming up to her ankles.
Thank god that Pisut came at the last minute as she fell and hit her head to the pool, and faints
We can clearly say that Karma finds Nam at the end.. She reaps what she sow.
For Pisut & Pasat, their relationship is jealousy incarnate
I loved the final episode :)) it was a long wait
There's another moral story in this drama, it tells us that you can't break a family and built your own family on top of it.
I don't whether it's me or not Jaron Sorat who play Siwa is reminding Chinese Actor Denny Huang
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This review may contain spoilers
I wish I could un-watch this so I could watch it again, but after crossing out some of my to-be-watched doramas in my list. I don't think I have ever or will ever seen a more wonderful dorama as this one. Everything was perfect (the cast -my, that cast!-, the story, the setting, the soundtrack).**POSSBILE SPOILERS BELOW**
I don't feel like this was a 2nd season. It was pretty much like an extension of the 1st season, so it is kind of hard to rate them separately. Maybe the only and biggest difference is that in 2nd season, Jin-sensei is not struggling so much with medicine and it repercussions in history. Since the photography has vanished, and his actions don't affect Miki's life anymore, he doesn't have any worry about the "what will happen if...". He is happy living in Edo period, he is happy with the Jindo-you (?), he is happy being friends with Ryoma-san. If he can save Ryoma-san from his assassination, he will do it, without a doubt, no matter the consequences.
Only in that aspect I prefer the 1st season to the 2nd. JIN has more medical cases, there were more surgeries and wow, awesome scenes that looked, if not entirely realistic, very good to the point of make me feel boneless. I love how Jin-sensei was so much aware of every one of his actions and what would happen if he did XX thing. 2nd season is more about political issues than medical ones. While 1st season is about penicillin, 2nd season is about battles and revolutions.
There is also a stronger bromance between Jin-sensei and Ryoma-san. Talk about bromance! Because Ryoma-san's assassination is around the corner, Jin-sensei is thinking about his welfare almost all the time. The love triangle between Jin-sensei, Nokaze and Saki-san is almost non-existent. Nokaze finds out the truth about Jin-sensei and Miki, she meets a foreign guy and is married in an episode (out of nowhere). Nokaze encourages the love between Jin-sensei and Saki-san, despite loving him as well.
I've read some reviews where people complained about Saki-san rejecting him. To me it made sense. She did not know when or if he would disappear to go back to the future. She decided to be a good doctor first, which was her dream. On the other hand, I've never felt that Jin-sensei truly loved Saki-san. Cared for her, yes. Loved her as a friend, yes. Loved her as a lover, no. I wouldn't want Saki-san to have Jin-sensei' heart half-arsed. And in a way, it is good, because Jin loved Miki, but he also loved Saki.
Which leads to... isn't their love story almost the same as Inuyasha and Kagome? The love triangle Jin/Miki/Saki = Inuyasha/Kagome/Kikyo. Jin/Inuyasha cannot forget their first love (Miki/Kikyo) which I admire because that is what loyalty is about, but at the same time, I pity Saki/Kagome for loving this fool guy so much and for never been able to have their hearts at 100%.
I don't know yet how to feel about the final chapter. The romantic in me is screaming internally in despair. I have to admit I got a bit tearful (who wouldn't?). It was a touching scene, that part where Jin is reading the letter from the past. And also when he was reading these books and found the photographs of the doctors in Jindo-you. I also wanted to say "minna..." with tears in my eyes...
On the other hand, the practical me says that it couldn't have ended in any other way. It was good, it was convenient (the thing about Miki). It was a bittersweet ending (more bitter than sweet).
About the acting. Ayase Haruka is truly a wonderful actress. She has "the vein" that only exceptional actresses have (like Angie). When she is struggling with her feelings, or when she is suffering, "the vein" (on her forehead) appears. She can cry so nicely, and she can smile so angelically as well. It is impossible not to feel empathy with her.
While in season 1 the acting of Miki (Nokaze) impressed me, her role in 2nd season is less prominent and she pales somewhat with her previous acting. Although I admit that she was superb when her baby was born. I don't think in real life anyone would have endured such a painful experience but her tears and determination to have her baby made me remember the Nokaze I fell in love with in Season 1.
Other actress that impressed me was Saki's mother. This actress, Asou Yumi, has such the face of a mother who had to go through so many painful things in her life. She looked a bit tough, especially on her children but also always on the verge of tears. The episode where she was sick was excellent, and she deserved an award for her performance.
My favorite actor has to be, maybe again, Kiritani Kenta. He is so funny without being a comedy character. His accent -the way he lisps-, his bulging eyes when he is shocked. I also love his character, how much he was into medicine, as well as all the other fellows in the little clinic.
No doubt it is the best dorama I've seen so far. True, I have others I liked as much as this one (probably I love Nodame Cantabile a bit more) but in terms of quality, clothing, setting, story, acting, this is the best there is. The kind of show all people should watch. I don't think there will be one single person who wouldn't love this dorama. It has medicine, politic, good battles, a bit of romance, friendship, family matters, Japan history (not sure of the accuracy but overall I learned a lot).
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I realize that many rom-com dramas have kinda the same plot, which is: marriage. Dramas that I loved, like Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu (Married as a Job) or Kazoku no Katachi, or the classic Kekkon Dekinai Otoko. But this one was so exhausting! The girls think and talk about men only, and they have the worst taste in them. Not only one of them, Kaori (Eikura Nana) is the Other Woman of her ex-boyfriend (who proclaims he loves both of them) but also Koyuki (Oshima Yuko) is the mistress of a married man. I thought Koyuki would have been the most sensible one in the trio, but this tells you that you can judge by the cover.
The most bearable one of the trio was Rinko, played by Yoshitaka Yuriko. At least she has different boyfriends to find out what she really wants. But the final episode made me hate her, grrrr. What a stupid girl, but I guess this kind of decision is expected in a tv show. Good, goofy guys never win in cinema/tv :((
I liked Sakaguchi Kento (KEY-san or Kinpatsu), but unfortunately, in this drama, his character was insufferable. Why did he have to be so meddlesome? Why did he have to be patronizing the girls, who just wanted to have fun? Why was he always judging the girls? He was also a "what-if" guy, and I didn't care about his past and his wife, he was the worst and I hated him. And his stupid hair.
I can't believe that with such a colorful cast, the drama was so mediocre. The girls were likable as friends (as women, they were the worst, and the most childish. Make up your mind, girls! And stop acting so immaturely!). There was a good chemistry between them. I liked Oshima Yuko, first time I see her acting. Eikura Nana was ok, I guess, always dull, poor girl. She is so pretty though, and after reading she was pregnant in real life, I couldn't help noticing her bump (and in the final episodes, she has the habit to touch her belly). Yoshitaka... i never liked her, to be honest. As an actress, she is ok, but in real life she is insufferable, thinking she is sooo open-minded and fun. BLEH.
The guys, though... Why in the world Suzuki Ryohei and Sakaguchi Kento were in this messy drama! Although it was cute to see them reunited, after "Ore Monogatari" (My Love Story!)... but that's another story... How in the world Tanaka Kei agreed to played the role of a married man who has an affair!
The final episode... omg, so bad. Awful. Kaori didn't learn her lesson, and Rinko makes the stupidest decision ever. I think the first part was a bit good, since any 30-year-old single woman can relate to the girls (being invited to weddings and still being single, etc). Oh, and another con: at first it was cute, but then it got on my nerves: the stupids talking-vegetable. So lame!
What redeems this crappy show? The setting: beautiful, gorgeous Tokyo. The clothes: very Japanese-like. The fashion: I paid extra attention to the nails (and currently, I am painting my own nails more or less like Kaori and Rinko did). The ending song: a catchy song by Perfume. The opening song: cute and fun.
All the other: terrible. I don't have any doubt to remove this file from my computer, for good!
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