Reviews

I'm writing this review in order to show people who haven't watched this drama that they definitely should give it a try before judging by the ratings. Please be aware that the ratings are not realistic at all and probably rated by teenagers whose oppa didn't star in this drama :D. This is one of the most underrated dramas i've seen... It's sad because there are many reasons why it should be among the best rated ones. First of all, the topic is new and refreshing. The main male role is an extreme introvert with no social skills whatsoever, which definitely goes against the usual kdrama stereotype of a manly, bold and superhero-like male character. The main female role is also a rare seen type of female character in kdramas, she's the opposite of the male lead, an extrovert with no sense of shame :D (very cute and funny). I could talk about other characters in this drama as well because they all have their charms and throughout the series you get to love them all, but the review would be too long lol. It's the show in which you can clearly follow the characters development and growth, and throughout the series you get to love them and understand each of them and their problems. The psychological issues portrayed in this drama are very realistic and writers succeeded in showing how humans are actually fragile beings and how nothing in life is black and white, the complex of life and living is really portrayed well in this drama. It's one of the rare dramas that focus on the growth of the characters, their psychological problems and relationships in general. Secondly, besides the serious part of the drama, it's very funny and many scenes are just hilarious. Hwan Gi (the main lead)'s personality is shown in a funny way too. He appeals to people like a cold, strange person, even a psycho, but as they get to know him they realize how good and sweet he actually is, but the problem comes from his incapability of expressing himself so he hides in his office and avoids people and social interactions. His friend is in a role of a president of the company because he's good in communicating with people, while Hwan Gi as a real CEO hides in his office and does things quietly from there. Roo Won (the female lead) also thought of him as a bad person, and she actually came to work under his company with the thoughts of revenge. Roo Won's sister killed herself in that company; she was Hwan Gi's secretary. Although Roo Won came with such thoughts, working under him made her realize how he is actually a very good person, incapable of hurting anyone, and since the beginning she helps him to overcome his problems and to express himself better. You can see him slowly becoming more confident and less introverted and shy, and throughout the series his character grows a lot and he actually makes friends and falls in love. I like the fact that Roo Won always tells him how he doesn't have to change, that she likes him the way he is but instead he should learn how to love himself and how to communicate with people in his own way, which naturally happens. I believe it's the thing that is very important because it sends a message that you don't have to necessary change for other people to love you, you just have to learn to accept yourself the way you are and people will learn to do it too. Honestly, they are one of my favorite, maybe favorite kdrama couple. Their chemistry is just amazing, and their relationship is just beautiful and really sweet. I loved all of their moments together, they're just great. I really recommend this drama to everyone who is looking for something new, refreshing, sweet and funny. It's a great mix of comedy, romance and drama. P.S you probably heard that the script was edited after the first four episodes because of the complaints and low ratings, but i liked those episodes too and all of the episodes later get better and better. Anyway give it a try :)

Read More

Radiant Office is very subtle, in all the best ways possible. Because of its subtlety, it takes time and attention to appreciate this drama – but all the time you spend will be the most rewarding time of your first half of this year, I swear.

To me, Radiant Office belongs to the slice-of-life and romance genre. After all, it was made to be an office romance kind of show. Comedy is almost non-existent here, although that does not mean that this show is dark. It is fun, but if you're here expecting slapstick humor kind of fun, you're in the wrong place.

On the outer level, Radiant Office is a bunch of Korean drama clichés packed together. There's a boss-employee relationship, office settings, fatal disease, and some chaebol family problems. However, on the inside, Radiant Office has a very warm and cozy tone – the complete opposite of those dramas that have the same cliché background.

This is built mainly on their warm and cozy characters. I know that the poster and the synopsis can make our lead female character look very extreme, but she's not, as well as the rest of the crew. They're rather very relatable human-beings. They go through problems (that can sometimes be too dramatic, but again, I can totally overlook that for the fact that this is a drama), but the way they tackle these problems and overcome these situations are so human-like.

You will definitely learn a thing or two at every twist and turn here. When you feel like you can relate to their problems, you'll surprisingly feel comforted by their words and actions. I also love how there's no true "evil" in this story. Whenever someone does something bad, the show progresses in the way you can finally understand that supposed "bad" intention and come to accept that flaw. There are times when good characters make bad decisions as well. This show never tries to perfect or sugar-coat things to make the ordinary viewers like me feel ugly or uncomfortable.

The characters here are all built on the same ground. There's no "rich and powerful" and "ugly duckling" kind of combination. Even if there is a rich and powerful person, they all still have good qualities *as much as* their bad ones. The part that makes this fun to watch is that most of their qualities don't overlap each other. Throughout the show, the best quality of one person will fulfill the bad part of another and so on. It makes everyone complete. This is very heartwarming to see. Trust me, you will fall in love even with the small roles that show up only once every 3-4 episodes (like the secretary or the convenience store worker or our main lead's younger brother). The characters in this show are really that lovely.

THE ROMANCE:

Like I said, subtleness is the key here. I swear I enjoyed the tiny reactions between our two main leads so much and found myself blushing at their chemistry way more than when main leads of other dramas hate each other too much before falling in love with each other. The satisfaction when he slightly takes care of her or acknowledges her talents is real. And, no matter how strong her character is, she's still the little girl who likes to be taken care of in front of him. Their love slowly grows on you.

THE CAST:

I started watching this show without ANY expectation because of the cast. I haven't seen some of these actors, but for the ones I've seen, I can say that this is their best drama so far. I've got nothing much to say. They're very well-suited for their roles.

THE MUSIC:

Honestly, they didn't use their OSTs in the way that they receive enough recognition although there are quite some quality ballads. However, I don't remember feeling awkward with the background music while watching. I can only give it a 7/10.

REWATCH VALUE:

I personally rarely rewatch shows. For people who do, I can picture you rewatch it for the life lessons and cozy love story. However, it's less likely to be rewatched and still enjoyable because business talks can be too long in some episodes.

OVERALL:

Still, despite the so-so music, the clichés, and the low rewatch value, I still give it an 8.5/10. I don't care about the low rewatch value; a drama is never made to be watched over and over again anyway. Comparing to very upbeat and sweet romcoms, I give high score to this one for its approach in telling the story. This was never made fancy for the ratings from the start. This was made for people who like to lean back and appreciate things.

Read More

lee gyeom is the epitome of a true gentleman



God knows how much i love his character. the one who would clear the path for the comfort of the person he dears, a person that remains loyal even after all those years of finding solace by wandering, a man with virtue. on the last episode when they recap lee gyeom's life i cried shit loads of tears. i felt terribly happy for him (terribly because of his tragic life; happy because he found his inner self in that tragedy)



and of course Saimdang. this drama depicts her journey from a carefree teenager to a mature woman. Saimdang has to be the strongest female character i've ever known, having to go through such ordeal in life. an obedient daughter to a loving mother and a respectful wife. i swear her patience and perseverance are on a whole new level. and i really love her conversations with her children especially the one she had with maechang under the blooming trees so heartwarming and she's very well composed.



my favourite part of this drama is of course the romance. No u dont have over the top lovey-dovey romance in here, no u dont have romantic scenes with all the sugary conversations that makes u want to jump off the window due to the sweetness. the romance in here is very subtle. u know there's love but u can't see it, u just feel it's there (i'm not making any sense here, too blinded by their love). the look on lee gyom's eyes every time he look at Saimdang is so deep that it pierced through the screen right into my heart XD.



now for the plot i think the modern part is totally unnecessary because; 1. very little screen time 2. it feels out of place. i read people commenting on how the plot is very cliche with political fights and vengeance etc. honestly that cliche plot is critical for the characters development. it's not that bad, the plot was just okay but interesting enough to make me watch it until the end. one thing for sure is that this drama is really really really slow and i usually drop slow dramas by 3-10 episodes in but this drama? theres something about it that kept me going, weird enough i dont know why. if and only if they had not cut the episode to 28 i personally think the ending would be better. u know when they introduce the characters they write the character's future below the name, like how woo was supposed to be an artist hyun rung a successful scholar. i thought they were gonna show it but no hmm. all and all i really love this drama and will definitely watch it again.

Read More

Since there is no review yet and I just watched this movie in cinema today, I want to share my experience. It was truly an intriguing and interesting piece.
The cinematography truly complemented the story of the movie. The shot showed how the actors were feeling and brought the issues more to life. E.g. the way the room was shot similar to the movie picture made the audience experience the tiny space and the music contributed effectively to this feeling.
The actor's performance was nuanced and fitted the characters, especially main actors Shawn Yue and Eric Tsang. Their acting felt real and you could see the struggle the characters had.
The story itself was told in a good way, only sometimes I wished the story would have spend more time on some characters and fleshed out their impact more.
Overall it was great movie experience and it also offered insight to some issues Hong Kong is facing nowadys, which is also interesting for foreigners like me.

Read More

Ms. Perfect went under the radar for many people, but if you are a fan of a certain genre of show this might be one to pick up. If so, get ready for a roller coaster ride and a lack of sleep as you unexpectedly end up binge watching this suspenseful drama. The first 8 or so episodes set up one scenario after another with the second part more focused on the characters figuring out why what just happened, happened. It's a crazy puzzle they try to put together without all the pieces. Hollywood sometimes makes shows about the normal average guy or gal thrown into a lot of crazy and it's fun to see how they get out of it...think The Fugitive or North by Northwest...and no, I'm not really comparing this to the level of Hitchcock but you can get the vibe. It's the person wondering, "why is this happening to me" and then doing their utmost to figure it out. But first what didn't work for me:

Cons:

Length: I was actually pretty happy with the length of the drama, but I think they could have successfully completed the drama at 18 episodes. Specifically I wasn't that taken with the romance involving Shin Jae Bok's friends. The problem with side stories is they often seem like filler, well, because they often are filler. This was a very minor issue for me however. I will say the first few episodes were a bit uneven as well.

Writer Cheats: I have a pet peeve in any drama wherein one conversation could clear up some misunderstanding/questions. There are a few in this drama and one in particular that a certain question would definitely, absolutely 100% positively have been asked and answered. However, the writer was not ready for the character to find out the reason something happened so that question was not asked or answered and it made no sense. This is cheating. I get it but it bugs me though it might not others.

Writer Cheat II: The writer does a good job giving all these characters layers, but I think he or she kind of tosses Jung Hee around a bit too much. The actor is fantastic, but I actually think we needed a bit more of his decision making process in the 2nd half for viewers to really see his point of view a bit more. Also, there is a decision late in the drama that JH makes about his children that no man in that situation would make knowing what JH knows. It kicked the level of angst up a notch but things done out of character bug me though most viewers wouldn't probably give him this benefit.

Dangling Threads: There are a few characters that needed at least a bit more of a resolution. I'm talking one who needed maybe 30 seconds to let us know what happened. Most things were tied up, but I'm gonna give the drama grief because they had time to tie up these loose ends.

Pros:

Actors: I saw someone saying people were complaining about the acting, but where I was watching this was not the case. Everyone was solid and both the lead actresses were absolutely fantastic. There seems to be a lot of interest in Sung Joon, and he is absolutely solid in this though his fans should know he is really not the main focus.

Characters: Even the intrepid Shin Jae Bok isn't perfect. I like that. I loved her but sometimes she drove me crazy. "Listen to your mom gut" was said by me more than once in this drama. All the characters in this drama have depth and layers.

Story: It's hard to get into it too much because everything is a spoiler, but if you like heavy romance walk away. This isn't your drama. Having said that the relationships that flourish are dealt with in a lovely way. I'll just leave it there. This drama successfully kept me guessing through the first 8 or so episodes with "oh my gosh, I didn't see that coming" multiple times through the first 10 episodes.

Makjang: Yep, I'm putting it on the pro side. There is some of this because it's kind of an over the top situation to begin with. However, there is fun OTT makjang and then there is the birth secrets makjang. None of the latter is here.

Ending: As mentioned previously, I feel a few threads didn't get tied up but all the big ones did. We know the ending. We understand what happened to all major characters. No "What the ...." "I don't understand what happened".... I actually really liked how they portrayed the relationships between the members of this family unit at the end of the drama. We get where everyone is at. Could there have been more between a few here and there, sure but I actually think this drama was true to what it set out to do.

Overall to me this is a gem of a drama given the strength of its leading ladies, a look at a marriage in crisis and how it evolves and an overall fun roller coaster ride. However, I do understand this is not for everyone. For some they will get frustrated by the imperfect characters. Others will find it on the makjang side. I think this writer does something really well and that is take flawed characters and make us care even about ones we don't think we will care about (the character of Na Mi comes to mind). It's hard to write about this drama and flesh it out more because of spoilers. Basically I think these type shows are fun because while I watch and sometimes get mad and frustrated, I'm also thinking: What would I do? I think that is the fun of this show... but again not for everyone. I'd give it 4 episodes and if you are not hooked by then, this one might not be for you.

Read More

I watched this drama to get over my weightlifting fairy kim bok joo hangover and thankfully it didn't disappoint . It was a fun watch and i don't think it had a single dull episode. I loved the acting of the female lead and some of the moments in the drama had me laughing out too loud.

without giving out any spoilers, some of the things i loved about this drama were
- the plot! - like i said never a dull episode !!
- the fact that do bong soon is played by such a petite cute actress
- the whole team leader han doppleganger sub plot
- the acting of the supporting actors ( specially the main villain and bong soon's first crush - must say i liked him even better than the male lead)

Read More

I started this drama because i saw a couple of reviews which said that this drama was very similar to weightlifting fairy Kim Bok Joo . Unfortunately for me this drama didn't even compare with weightlifting fairy. I admit that the storyline for this drama is cute and it does have its funny moments l, but i found that the plot didn't have enough weight to carry on for 16 episodes. I had lost interest by episode 12 and almost dropped the drama then .

Nevertheless some of the things i liked about the drama were

- the cute relationship between louis and his grandma
- how louis' character remains his true sweet self equally in times of poverty and prosperity
- the dynamics between mr kim and ms choi
- baek Mari's funny blunders

And some of the things i didn't like about the drama were
- fillers ..... oh so many fillers
- the fact that ko bok shil suddenly gets better complexion, etc in the later episodes ( soo unlike weightlifting fairy :( .... why cant the main character remain dark skinned and still get the handsome prince ?? )

Read More

This drama is relatable and fresh; it surprised me by how much I waited to watch it every week and the scenes themselves didn't make me skip anything, so it's a good length for the watch value.

The story itself is centered around office work and interpersonal relationships of the workers rather than romance, although there are very dramatic elements to it all the way to the last episode which were a bit predictable but still kept it going.

I loved the cast; even though it was a pretty tame genre, the conflicts and overall relationships between the employees reminded me of some more action-driven teams in other dramas that are in detective or court setting.

The main OST is very nice to listen to and embodies the MC well, while the musical backgrounds in scenes were not intrusive or awkward.

In my opinion, I wouldn't rewatch this drama because the conflicts have been resolved and it's not the type to be rewatched as it is a one-watch experience.

I have tried to keep the review as spoiler-free as possible, however, this is a well-made drama that is nowhere near light-hearted as you may think, and whereas a lot of viewers have a problem with it not being overly romantic, I don't think the romance itself was the point here. The soul of this drama is in its people, fleshing them out as they are and how far are they willing to go for themselves or others. There is no chance of excusing a character for who they are and that in its essence is what a lot of dramas have done badly in the end. The friendships and secondary romance couples have enough screentime and are not forgotten, so you do care about all of them throughout the series. The real antagonist is dispersed in little aspects of each of their personalities, as it should be, which makes this drama as realistic as all the everyday situations that happen in an office.

I don't find MDL scores that truthful at all (in fact lately, it feels like opening imdb), so don't overlook this drama because of that, it is much better than plenty of things that are currently airing and have aired just before it.

Read More

> This drama made me binge almost every night till 6 in the mornings. By the end of it, I was a certified panda.

> Despite its flaws ~ this drama has been wonderful. I've never been more intrigued with a drama that doesn't have its primary focus on Romance.

> Coming to the flaws, the one thing that I could never digest was that this show gave more screen-time to the villains than the heroes. In some episodes, almost half the runtime would be just of the villains drinking tea and scheming, or gloating over their stupid achievements. Honestly, I'd be lying if I said I didn't find this annoying because I really really hated the overachieving military baboon. I can't explain how much I wanted to kill that officer! I don't think I've ever felt this much hatred for someone — that too, someone completely fictional. I suppose I'd have to appreciate the writer and actor's talents despite it all. They did do a good job at making me loathe the character. But still, I always knew I'd have a reason to despise his very existence from his first scene.

>Speaking of villains, I must say, apart from the military baboon and the other three villains, Chen Pi was the world's biggest idiot. Initially, despite seeing how cruel his character could be, I still had hope that he would have a better understanding because of his shameless love for his mistress (Lay's wife). But this boy didn't even want to seek reasoning or understand the situation. He just jumped in with the evil bandwagon and began making everyone else's lives miserable. Despite how adorable the fella looked, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have thought before smashing his face into a toilet because he was a complete shitehead**.

> Although Romance is of a secondary issue in this drama, the romance between the main couple is amazing. It was very refreshing to watch the exchange between Da Fo and the female lead because Zanilia's character was so upfront about her emotions and motive and a complete sass machine! Once again, Zanilia did a wonderful job! (Complete fan after watching Boss and Me)

> While we are on the topic of acting skills — Great acting by Lay! I'm very impressed tbh. I just confess out of guilty conscience, I didn't even know who he was until I thought I'd seen him somewhere while watching his second or third scene. Googled him up and BAMN! Kpop Idol! (Sorry, I'm not that into EXO yet. Although I'm very much into Lay now.) *clears throat* Back to Lay, he didn't make me feel like I was watching a 25-year-old~ somehow he had a very old soul vibe. I loved him!

> Since I've mentioned Lay making me feel like he was an old soul. Even the first male lead looked younger than him tbh. And William (Da Fo — first male lead) is actually 31! Six years Lay's senior.

> Again, Lay, I can not even explain how much I wanted to just reach into the screen at times, grab his face and apply chapstick on those lips of his during so many scenes! The boy really dealt with a bad case of chapped lips almost throughout the drama. I suppose it was completely freezing in China during the shoots and the poor lad has really susceptible lips.

> My favorite character in this whole drama would have to be split between Lao Ba (fortune teller) and the Luitennent ~ They were quite the characters! And their bromance was something to watch!

> At first when the drama moved to the 'Lao Ba and the lieutenant searching for Da Fo in a small village' angle, I was a bit apprehensive ~ but then I really began to get interested in how the village was structured, and the chieftain. What really pulled my heartstrings, however, was the bittersweet secret unrequited love angle there was between the Chieftain and Er Ye (Lay). It almost made me cry with how beautiful it was ~ it actually made me think "This could be such a beautiful drama on its own"

> Speaking of Lay's love angle in this; ALMOST EVERY FEMALE IN THIS DRAMA FALLS FOR HIS CHARACTER! His wife, that evil Madame Hu girl, the Chieftain, EVEN DOCTOR MO! By the end of the drama I couldn't even deal anymore ~ I once even screamed that I'd take him just because there were so many females into him!

> My personal eternal love in this drama? The lieutenant. I spent every second of his screentime wishing that he get his own main lead in a proper drama someday soon! Those acting skills and looks would really suit the role of a lead. Heck, he'd even look great as a Korean main lead because he has those looks!

> Slowly moving to the more sour points in this drama — Er Ye's eternal, unconditional love for his wife slowly made me feel suffocated every time he refused to even try to give up finding a way to be with her. I mean the lady's dead. She said she's content with her life. Okay nevermind, maybe I don't understand the mechanics of true love.

> While I adored this intriguing drama~ I got really tired by episode 39. Everything felt too confusing, and I got very bored of the folks still having to deal with the tombs. You'll need a lot of patience to pass through the episodes after 35, to be honest.

> The ending? Open-ended tbh. I don't know.. I just somehow didn't feel it.

Read More