The chemistry ... oh man, the chemistry between the lead protagonists is soooooo good. Their love is sweet and nurturing. I particularly liked how Ji Chang Wook depicted the differences between Healer and the shy Bong Soo. It made me very reminiscent of Superman and Clark Kent.
I found this drama very balanced across its genres. It touches on mostly Action and Romance, but there's just enough Comedy to keep it light enough. It has all the good feels, but it is by no means a melodrama. Thank goodness. I cannot recommend this drama enough. In fact, I am ready to watch it again!
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This drama is by no means perfect. There are a few plot holes, and the drama has the tendency to focus too much on secondary characters. Even with these shortcoming, the romance in this drama makes up for it.
This drama is truly fresh and new. Featuring a peanut size King Kong as the lead protagonist. Park Bo Young will steal into your heart. Park Hyung Shik's performance as a snarky chaebol keeps delivering the SASS. His love and obsession with the surprisingly strong protagonist will keep you grinning from ear to ear. What are you waiting for?! Go Watch It!
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- Time travel
- Romance
- Historical
So much said about Queen In Hyun's Man and FINALLY able to take this one off the drama bucket list in 2017 is an experience hard to describe. But here it goes. A drama-altering experience much in the same way Kim Boong Do's future experiences forever changed the way he looked at things once he is back to that reality of his. In my case, this rewrote all expectations for time travel romance, while asking me to re-evaluate - ever so politely- all time-travel drama watching experiences I've had prior to this. For one, this drama interweaves between both past and present elements/worlds throughout the entire plot.
Story (9/10): Action is excitingly divided between the past and modern worlds, unlike most works of this genre where the character is stuck either in the past or future and the aspect of time travel fails to be relevant 95% of the time. While most time-travel pieces conclude the power of fate/history in remaining true to its course, this one explores the impact of one's actions and the precarious position of history as a result of it.
Let me make this clear. This is not a perfect drama. In fact, loopholes and flaws are clear at times. Characters and core premise are non-dimensional for the most part, but the charm of the characters, emotional twists and unpredictable turns in the telling of the tale to keep audiences thrilled down to the last minute, largely make up for it. For this, I am glad to let them pry the get out of jail free card for a 9 score.
Acting/Chemistry (9/10):
Something is just so charming about Yoo In Na as Choi Hee Jin that the attraction towards her character is so believable because of it. Ji Hyun Woo isn't what you call captivating at first glance but doesn't take long to grow on you thanks to his chemistry with Yoo In Na. Seriously one of the most romantic pairings in dramaland, so I bet you can imagine how toyed with my poor heart felt when I learned this ship ACTUALLY sailed in real life just to sink shortly after.
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The history is very well done and always keeping the part interesting and captivating every episode that passes. Not only focusing on the main characters, but also on those around them, like the little fox * that I loved * and others from other worlds, and how they intersect. Wow. By the way I didn't read the book yet so I can't compare it.
In my opinion all the actors were excellent. I could really feel the pain of them all, the love and their happiness, when there was. Especially for Chao Mark and Yang Mi who let me surrender to them, they really make the best in this drama, I have seen a little of romance dramas but this one ... in romance? geez I was in love to. And when Ye hua starts to cry .. I cry too!
And the bad lady, I was cheated by her in so many ways * I feel bad* but good acting.
Rewatch - Obvious !!! I would come again and feel everything again. I would take the potion to live it all over again * laugh *
I will of course tell everyone to wath this, is now on my favourite!! Love it! love it!
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I enjoyed the tone set by the stylized cinematography (which utilized many CGI sets) and slightly futuristic setting. The CGI is for the most part creatively done, and gives the film so much more style--kind of a graphic novel feel (some have said it had a Sin City vibe). It could've been set in the present day too, but the slight upping of the CCTV world does make the plot more credible, even if still slightly fantastic. I'm sure Hollywood folks would criticize the technology/production design, but I actually liked how the futuristic setting wasn't distractingly overkill but instead felt subtle. There was actually something more realistic about a present world with some remodeling rather than a rebuilt world.
Acting was good; nothing hugely special, although Daniel Wu pulls off his multi-layered character quite deftly. I don't think I appreciated the nuances until I finished the movie. That said, rewatch value is highas a second watch will be a different experience thanks to the twists. The music was really well done--it fit the story and pacing and tone just right.
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I'm writing this review based on only the first 43 episodes before I gave up the series.
The primary reason I gave up at episode 43 has to be the unbalanced main character pairs.
In ROCH, Xiao Long Nu was someone every pervert wanted to sleep with. In 3L3W, only the crazies Yehua and Li Jing pine after Bai Qian. BQ is this really old 140000 aunty that everyone mocks behind her back for being old... OK, that is A-grade writing talent right there.
Anyways, this is what I actually saw when I viewed those episodes thru ROCH vision:
Bai Qian = Xiao Long Nu.
Ye Hua = Yang Guo
Mo Yan = Yang Kang (YG is the splitting image of YK in ROCH)
When Su Su made the jump in Heaven = 16 years separation between YG and XLN
Jade Purity Fan of Kunlun Mountain = Mongolian Prince's fan weapon (3L3W has a fan weapon b/c ROCH has it)
Li Jing = the rapist in ROCH (the only other char infatuated with XLN)
Su Jin = mix of Huang Rong (cunning) and Guo Fu (spoiled)
Xuan Nu = Li Mochou (her man never showed much interest in her, causes all the aggravations and terrible things she does; there is a segment in ROCH where LMC goes around with an abducted baby, in 3L3W she strolls around with her sick child)
Heavenly Lord (current) = dumb Guo Jing (he always makes terrible decisions and needed Dijun to bail him out of difficult [mental] situations)
Dijun + Feng Jiu = White haired Yang Guo + Guo Xiang (they're not fated to be together, but an arc is created in the mortal realm for the pair as an extra add-on to ROCH)
When BQ fell from the peach tree and YH caught her = Yang Guo chance encounters XLN in the woods of Passionless Valley
Meeting of BQ and YH in sea kingdom = variant of meeting in Passionless Valley where XLN claims (pretended) she didn't know Yang Guo, and Gongsun Loue eyeing the pair with envy
Yao Guang + Mo Yuan duel in episode 01 = Lin Chaoying (mischievous version) and Wang Chongyang (apathetic version) with slight difference LCY did not threaten to commit suicide if she lost, and WCY actually told her to move away upon her defeat.
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The entire artistic production would receive 9/10 from me for a romcom drama like this. The direction was great; the set and props were outstanding; the cast was full of both eye candy and skills. The cinematography was amazing. It was good to look at. I just wish they gave much more effort into blending their multiple genres together.
THE CAST:
I'm never a fan of any of them, but I believe they did a really great job. The set of 3 leads owned their roles. I even believe that the writers wrote this story with Park Boyoung in their mind. Tiny and cutesy role is definitely for her, and she's a good actress as well. This is only my second drama with her, however, and I believe that the next one with her is gonna start boring me a bit. Her tone and acting is just so *her* like she was in Oh My Ghost. This happened to me with Hwang Jungeum in every single drama she was in as well.
THE STORY:
The story, however, was a strange mix of romance, comedy, supernatural(?), police investigation, and even bloody thriller. How would they mix into a good storyline? There's no way. I believe they needed to take out at least one, or tone down each of them to make everything flow.
The dynamic of this storyline is super strange. It was like an incredibly bumpy road instead of a smooth rollercoaster. The comedy element was almost too forced that it wasn't funny. Some parts were even disgusting that just made me fast-forward throughout the show.
The thriller part started out really strong in the beginning which tipped off the consistent cute and comical tone of the entire Do Bongsoon character. That villain character was just too over-the-top that the entire sub plot around this guy doesn't fit in with the tone of this story at all.
Plus, the entire reason Bongsoon and Hyungshik got together was because *his* case, not the one in her neighborhood. He was being threatened, and that case was solved so easily and quickly. It was definitely just there to bring the two together.
The love story between the two/three leads was nothing special. Nothing really developed or had an impact on any characteristic change. It was just there out of nowhere. I have to admit that they were cute and fluffy together though. They were almost too cheesy together and I usually don't prefer that kind of super cringy stuff, but I believe it helped even out the darker tones regarding the villain. It still isn't the ideal way for such purpose.
But all in all, I wouldn't keep watching until the end if it wasn't entertaining. Like I said, I liked the cinematography and the cast a lot (surprisingly, given that I'm never a fan of any of them). It was something to watch in my free time and I did take my time to finish it. The bad parts weren't soooo bad that it let me down. At least the first episode started off nicely. If you wanna see for yourself, I don't recommend you against it. I have a reputation for dropping series halfway through if the first few episodes are slow and have too much flashback. This one was fine.
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One of the most beautiful films I've ever had the pleasure to watch. Kurosawa is a master at building such a theatre inspired aesthetic with the focus primarily on his actors performance it comes to no real surprise that the performances throughout are terrific. Split into anthology of sorts the film at times struggles to maintain a coherent tone which it's audience may struggle to adapt with. The films only real issue is that it unfortunately steps into self indulgent territory with many scenes over extending their stay, resulting in bloated sequences throughout.
| STORY |
1. Sunshine Through The Rain
Magic. An incredible reminder that dreams had in childhood can have cruel and terrifying stakes that far exceed our external world. Stunning matte paintings, too.
2. The Peach Orchard
My mouth was hanging open watching this segment. A mix of pre-pubescent mystery, wonder, and frustration. Kurosawa is on the longest of lenses, compressing his action to a completely flat plane, like a tapestry – they’re so long you can actually see heat waves shimmering in the foreground. Worth watching for this segment, alone.
3. The Blizzard
Mountaineers slowing down, stuck, fallen, and visited by a snow ghost spirit. I feel like I've had a version of this dream at some point.
4. The Tunnel
The distant glowing light of the solider's 'home' packs more poetic visual punch than a lot of entire movies do. Seems plain to me now that Kurosawa was doing the orange and teal thing before anyone else.
5. Crows
Scorsese plays Van Gogh. Love his frantic dedication to the craft - ‘not enough time, not enough time’. The drive of a locomotive. Especially surreal to see a contemporary interior in a Kurosawa movie.
6. Mount Fuji In Red
The impact of this is all in the devastating futility of the ending. I understand the enormous cultural baggage at play with the radiation here, but this is where 'Dreams' gets soggy, which is when its imagery gives way to unnecessary monologuing.
7. The Weeping Demon
Giant dandelions and writhing, tormented demons lounging by red pools. This feels like a Fringe show I saw once.
8. Village of the Watermills
More monologuing about the environment here, but ‘Village’s funereal atmosphere wraps up ‘Dreams’ in a way that closes the loop but stays ambiguous enough to make you reconsider the whole film. And then I woke up.
| ACTING/CAST |
Many of the dreams deal with loss of innocence, not only of “I” but also of Japan as the setting of the film. While the protagonist is very early on faced with death and destruction (especially of nature) which later continues with his trauma caused by the senseless deaths of his comrades during war Japan loses its innocence as well as the colors of the first dreams start to fade turning into dark tones in the later episodes until everything is wiped out during the nuclear explosions and their aftermath. This might lead to one of the reasons why it was so difficult for Kurosawa to find the money for his picture since, especially the sixth dream titled “Mount Fuji in Red”, it is highly critical of Japan embracing nuclear technology. After the war this seems to be the doom for the country as well as its people, with the toxic red gas approaching which contains plutonium as one of the last surviving humans (Hishashi Igawa) tells two others before he jumps from a cliff into a quicker death. Japan, as shown in the film, has long gone and its only choice is to find a way back before its too late.
| MUSIC/CINEMATOGRAPHY |
Dreams is a film which lives and breathes through its impressive use of color and landscape. As he has done so many times before, especially in works such as Ran, beautiful wide angle shots show nature in its entire beauty, a sight which is overwhelming at times for the observer. While in Ran the setting for the many battle scenes here it seems more peaceful – until it erupts in the sixth dream leaving the world in a desolate state with demons roaming the deserted ash fields of what once was a country. It is an idyllic setting, nature with its forest and rivers, one which is in no need for technology which, in the end, only speeds up the process of humanity's demise. It is a very didactic approach the director has chosen, but one which he expresses full of conviction.
In conclusion, Dreams is a beautiful and sometimes disturbing film about the relationship between humanity and nature as well as about a boy growing up, finding his way in life and exploring its possibilities. Using the logic of dreams each one of the episodes ends rather abruptly like waking up (sometimes form a nightmare which one would rather forget as soon as possible). It is a very personal film for its director, one with a message for its viewer which – considering the alternative he offers – sounds a bit naïve, too utopian to be precise, especially for someone who has explore the human condition in his work for most of his life.
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This is a "second chance at love" show. The premise is a divorced couple meet again as interns in the same Emergency Room. Sparks fly. The primary couple is Oh Jin Hee, played by Song Ji Hyo, and Oh Chang Min, played by Choi Jin Hyuk. I'll be honest. Choi Jin Hyuk flips my switch, so I'm inclined to love anything that I see him in because, yeah. Ahem. Anyway. They are a couple that married young and against the wishes of his family and then broke up spectacularly after a year. Six (I think) years later, they meet up again when they are both assigned as interns to the same team in the emergency department of their hospital. What follows is a couple re-learning what it was that attracted them in the first place, and also what ways they had to grow before they could really be successful together. The show does hit a point where it starts to drag a bit when some tragic things happen and Oh Chang Min spends two or three episodes kind of back sliding and wallowing, but once you get through that, you're rewarded with a couple of wrap up episodes that tie everything up neatly and satisfactorily. The secondary couple are really fun to watch together and have just as satisfying, though less delved, story as the main couple. The supporting cast is fun. I've already watched this drama twice and will probably watch it again at some point in the future because, as mentioned, Choi Jin Hyuk, damn. That voice, that smile. Mmph.
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Although this is the genre of drama that I liked (Romance, School,Youth), I wasn't expecting a lot due to the cultural/age differences I had with regards to the drama setting. I was born in 1997 and obviously, is not from Korea. Surprisingly, I realized that our time of youth goes beyond age, time and place. The story grew on me, reminding me to cherish my youth and I can totally imagine when I am 30+ and I look back upon these days.. So much feels.
This drama had a bit of sitcom with different funny situations happening in each episode and when it concludes, you learn something. It's a story about youth and romance (not the cheesy type) of course as well as kinship. But then I expected more character development as the setting of the drama passes from teen to adulthood, especially for the two leads. Jumping too much between the time frames also makes it a bit messy for me.
I need to mention this. When Shi Won says that living in Busan makes it difficult to follow her HOT, I totally shouted at her: WHAT ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL FANS?!
Chemistry is there, right on point. Seo In Guk and Eun Ji really did well in this drama, their emotions from friends to couple is displayed well. I personally am not impressed Eun Jiwon's acting, not bad but lack of emotions at some time especially since his co-star (Shin So Yool) did very well. And then I want to say that... Shi Won's parents have THE BEST CHEMISTRY EVER. Anyway I think the couple appeared in all Reply series right. Point proven.
Music, well, is from 90s, I enjoyed it as well. Loved the duet between Eun Ji and Seo In Guk. Credits to the lamb/sheep sound that appeared every time there's an awkward moment for the characters (making it more like a sitcom).
Go back in time with Reply 1997. I can totally understand why this had high ratings (although I am not sure about how realistic the setting of the drama is)..
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Positive:
First of all I have to say that I never go over 25 episodes per drama, cause I get bored, however I saw the whole 62 episodes. If you love fantasy story lines this drama is for you, cause it has all kinds of fantastic creatures. The music was awesome, how they recreate the costumes is awesome, the guy that created the lord of the rings environmental houses and all is here so everything to the last plate is pretty and the colors of the drama are awesome. I have to say I like the first 45 episodes of the drama a lot..later well...then we go to the negatives.
Many love stories
Many fight scenes! I love fight scenes.
All the cast is amazingly pretty/handsome (shallow I know but very nice to see lol)
Neutral: some people say the effects look very fake, but if you grew up in the eighties like me, u will be just fine, I personally don't care for the effects if the rest is good, so in this aspect I have no good or bad reviews.
Negatives:
How can I say tell you the negatives without spoiling the drama...let me think. I will just say that this:
Don't get too attached to any of the characters or to any love story line. If you are going to watch it just because you wanna see your ships sailing, this is not the drama for you. It has romance, yes , a lot, but again don't get attached to any of them or the "couples".
I think for me is a negative thing that the drama followed the original book so well,because I didn't like the end.
Overall: I have a love-hate feelings about this drama, I love what I said in the positives and my numeric rating is base only in the positives because overall I think is a good drama if you love fantasy, fight scenes, kingdoms, pretty costumes elf looking and very, very pretty characters. But my hate feelings come when what I expected didn't happen and because of the end, that's all I can say without spoiling anything.
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Totsuzen Desu ga, Ashita Kekkon Shimasu
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Which was the appeal and what I needed. I loved the characters and the actors were wonderful. The show put a smile on my face. The end felt rushed and the result was boring, but I truly enjoyed the fun of the first episodes. (So really the majority of the show since this one is short.)
Sometimes predictable brain fodder is good.
Though I felt it could have had better commentary on the role of women in Japan now. Such as Asuka's dream of being a full time house wife is actually a turn off and men want their woman to work a job. The way in which women decide what they want and so on. It's touched on, but sadly not truly explored. Which is fine for this light hearted drama.
Overall I don't regret this. Fun and simple is something every drama viewer needs. Can you believe this is actually the first Japanese drama I've completely finished! Ha-ha. I'm actually watching other ones with this one and I do really love the story telling style of J-dramas. Because the characters do become developed so well in such a short episode count. No I won't be rushing to rewatch this one, and yes the music will be song long after and I'll wonder where the song is from. Still I think it was perfect for what I needed. I got a happy romance, cute couple, and a wonderful happy ending for everyone. Oh, and there are some pretty clever jokes and humor.
On an ending note I hope to see the actor of the male lead in more work. I love his voice and acting.
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ACTING/CAST: Richard Ricardo Carter is very cute and rather irresistible.
MUSIC: I liked the music also. It was very fitting.
REWATCH VALUE: Yeah, I'd watch it again.
OVERALL: A short about rekindling a friendship and more. It's was worth 45 minutes of my time.
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Total run-time: 60 minutes over 5 episodes, or about 12 minutes each. Easy binge.
Much of this show is shot out-of-sequence and it's all brought together in the final episode. Bring tissue because it's so touching. It's a happy ending but very tearful.
ACTING/CAST: Ever since Grey Rainbow have I wanted to see Nut Rattanamongkol again. He is so sweet and charming. The actress is very beautiful also.
MUSIC: That last song was so bittersweet. In fact, another Thai drama with great music.
REWATCH VALUE: It's not long so I'll probably watch it again with a friend.
OVERALL: Some parts the pacing may seem a little slow but really this story just takes its time to be told. I think it's rather poetic and done well.
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