Reviews

One of the best dramas of 2017. And I am not lying, not even a little bit.
If there is only one word that could describe this drama perfectly. That is 'Awesomazing'. From the A to the Z it is the most funny, dramatic and almost realistic drama I saw.
The most funniest drama I had seen ever. Ever.

Don't believe me? Let me tell you why you should.

The cast is Perfect. I don't think anyone could had done those characters more justice then people who played them. Though I am not familiar with any of the cast members but I am glad that I still tried it. Because they were perfect.
Nam Gung Min is the funniest actor, I know. Then there is Lee Jun Ho with him. And it's just perfection on it's own.
There are lot's of other people too. And You are going to like each of them for their characters. You just have to.

The story is amazing. I'm not going to say anything about it, except that you will love every single second of it. You will love, scream and cry (for all the good reason). In the end you will just wish if there was more, more and more.
Funny & crazy lead. Smart women characters. An antagonist that you will love. A corruption story told with the right balance of comedy. And with a few lessons for life (Don't do corruption!).
There isn't a bucket load of romance in it. But there is this one couple that you will be shipping from the first episode. *hint* hint* And if you are me, then there will be two or more.

The bromance...
You are probably hearing a lot about the Chief Kim & Director Seo's bromance. And none of the things you heard is a lie. If you thought Goblin & Grim Reaper's (From "Goblin" ) bromance was epic. Then this one is just a step farther. It is funnier, cuter and seriously has that felling that just makes you go 'aww' at them. TQ's Psycho & Gluttonous Sociopath, they are just to CUTE to resist.
Every time they were together, there was Bang bang bang. Every line, every scene, every time their eyes meet...there was Bang.
This is the most romance I have ever seen in a bromance. And there are kisses. Yes, kiss but in plural!

The music. The songs are amazing. Beautiful and light goes perfectly with the story and the scenes. You will be humming them all the time.

Rewatch - 10/10. I am so going to re-watch this. Actually I'm already re-watching it now.

So if you think 'Ah, it doesn't has romance in it. It probably isn't good.' Then I will like to tell you, "You are so wrong. It does has romance in it. Just not a bucket full of it. The story, cast, music, the bromance, comedy everything else makes up for it. When you reach the end of the first episode you won't even care about the romance anymore"
It's an amazing drama not to mention a hilarious one. One of the best of 2017.
I'm hoping for a 2nd season.

For all of you my advice is, "Watch it! Watch it! Watch it!"

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This drama so inspiring you especially in life and future.
When you down and faced difficulties..recommend to you to watch this..

Watched this drama at first because of the male lead ,but end up respect the overall story..

From being a mom,student,father and all about community ..just so fit in
great job to the director,and very rare to seen this kind of drama..

and i end up find all other work for this all cast , rethink again about my study because i watch again this drama during iam intern.It make me to gather back my mind to pursue master..i wish ..

such inspiring drama..

By the way the soundtrack also perfect ! all in my playlist even the background sound only..

Plan to watch again in next semester ..huhu

Thank yoou..

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Wow. First of all, even if you're not usually a fan of Chinese dramas, watch Nirvana in Fire. This was probably one of the best TV shows (Western or Asian) I've ever watched. Even though it got rave reviews I was also skeptical when starting it. The beginning was a little challenging because of the introduction of SO many characters and, honestly, it was a little hard to follow in the first couple of episodes. However the more you watch the better it gets, and everything quickly started to make more sense after episode 2 or 3. This is mainly due to great acting by its cast and a well-paced story. Pacing is important for a 54 episode political drama and this never dragged. Maybe I am just drawn to epic stories about war, brotherhood, and subterfuge, but even if you're not, this show is higher quality in terms of writing, acting, and cinematography than most things you'll see.

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I went into this drama because of Gung Min and didn't know what to expect, but was so glad in the end - and not only because of him. This is a drama that entered my top 5 list without me realizing it. It caught me off guard in a good way. It's actually not so much about the story but the characters. And in a way story and characters are bound to each other like: One half doesn't work without the other. As the story goes on, you will love each and every one of its "puppets". Even the bad guys. You will enjoy watching them grow - for better or worse - and you will anticipate every new encounter. You will find yourself lost if you don't see them at least once a day.

I'm normally not a fan of comedy dramas, but I made an exception for this one since it captured my heart in an instant. The producers were some smart dudes, when I think of how they displayed the comedy parts. Of course there are your obvious jokes, but it still manages to not look too exaggerated. Then there's comedy that is subtle and looks like it doesn't want to be funny, but it is nonetheless. And then there are hilarious incidents within all the seriousness and you can't help but laugh about it, but at the same time you feel something like pride and satisfaction.

Nevertheless, this show is about corruption and it is certainly not only made of happy and/or amusing moments. It also has a knack for creating suspense in its very own way. It's hard to explain but once you watch it, you'll understand.

You don't like business dramas? There's no romance, why start this thing?

Let me tell you some reasons:

- Nam Gung Min
- Lee Jun Ho
- Jeong Hye Seong
- Dong Ha
- Im Hwa Young
- Kim Won Hae
- Jung Moon Sung
- ...
... I could probably list the whole cast but I think you get my intention.
...
- clever, well done comedy
- an unusual bromance you'll adore to the core
- strong female characters
- strong side and guest characters
(- of course also strong male characters - don't let us forget about them either)
- many surprising, unexpected, freaky turn of events
- a business story about corruption that is well executed an told with a good balance between comedy and seriousness
- maybe one or two lessons for life itself

One word to describe this show? Rewarding. In every way possible. A surprise drama and highly recommended.

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This drama had so much potential! The first few episodes were excellent, but rushed writing really brought the quality down near the end. It still gets an overall 8 from me for it’s strong start that gave me all sorts of cute butterfly feelings, but it just couldn’t maintain that initial wow factor.

The beginning of this drama was absolutely adorable! It was refreshing to see two adults be, well, adults about their relationship and the romantic chemistry between the leads was electric. But the plot really started struggling once it began focusing too much on the male lead’s perceived struggles rather than Asuka’s storyline. Despite his good looks and soft-spoken charm, he became such a noble idiot that I actually switched loyalties to the second lead, something I rarely do. It’s pretty clear that cutting the length of this drama had a negative impact on the script writing and subsequent character development.

Nishiuchi Mariya really carried this drama and I loved her portrayal of Asuka. First-time actor Yamamura Ryuta impressed me a lot too and I hope he continues acting. The supporting cast didn’t have much to work with when their characters got quickly pushed into random plots near the end but they also performed very well. There was so much potential!

Conclusion: It was a good drama that needed more time to develop its plot and characters. Not a must-watch but if you like cute and realistic relationships check it out!

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If you're having any doubts about picking this up because of the lack of 'romance' tag or the synopsis or just anything, please throw all those doubts out of the window and watch this right now! I don't generally watch non-romance dramas, and I'm not a big fan of office politics or just politics in general, but I LOVED this! And believe me, so will you.
The words corporate politics put me off for a while, but then I finally picked this drama because of Gung Min. I wasn't familiar with any of the other cast. Now I can't believe I was about to pass this gem off!
Here are few of the reasons why I loved Chief Kim-

-Sometimes, it doesn't require an unique plotline to make a successful drama, but what matters is it's execution. A group of people fighting against the corruption in their organisation might not seem like anything new, but Chief Kim is executed brilliantly. Not to mention, hilariously.
-I feel like, with the given plot, there could have been a lot of crazy misunderstandings, what with him being a bad person at the beginning. But the writer chose to deal with that fact in a straightforward manner, instead of going round and round in circles. I'm really thankful for that because it made it way more enjoyable.
-I really enjoyed the pacing of this show. In a typical kdrama, things go well in the start, and then around the last 5-6 episodes, everything goes wrong horribly which doesn't get resolved until the last episode. But I felt that wasn't the case with this drama. The pacing was a bit more consistent. Good and bad happened throughout the drama, not at any specific timings/ episode.
- I legit loved every interactions between every characters in the drama. Whether it may be Chief Kim & Seo Yul, Seo Yul & Ha Gyeong, Chief Kim & Myeong Su, Chief Kim & Ga Eun and any many others, each one was immensely enjoyable.
-I'm a big fan of bromances. Well, who isn't, right? The main lead, Chief Kim, is surrounded by a lot of guys. There are number of bromances going on simultaneously. My personal favorite being TQ's Psycho & Gluttonous Sociopath. They are just sooo cute!
-The chemistry between the characters is really good. Not just with the leading characters, but also between the supporting characters.
-There might not be any romance, but you can still ship two particular characters (I'm not saying who), I know I did.
-The comedy is SPOT-ON. This drama might not keep you on the edge of your seat, but it sure will have you falling off off it- with laughter!
-Last but not the least; watch out for the some drama scenes parodies. I loved them, and I'm sure you'll too. I'm not going to say which dramas, 'cause that'll spoil the fun, but they were pretty popular ones.
I'd like to end the review by saying that I'm not a drama re-watcher, but I'd gladly re-watch any episode of Chief Kim any-day! So please, give this a chance!
Happy Watching!

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An Unpopular Opinion....

*** What I Like (+):
--- Yang Yang is the Master.... Master at Kissing that is - too bad he didn't have a partner :(
--- Old Man Yu is most enjoyable character to watch .... The actor, Niu Jun Feng, is the best in the show! ... (just as good as he was in Battle of Changsha)
--- Zhang Vin is so very Hot looking as the brooding KO... too bad he didn't have much screen time.
--- enjoyable encounters .... nothing annoying.
--- Villains were not real bad .... some had a little bit of growth, a positive!!!
--- The Game scenes were shot well!
--- Good looking cast.

*** What I did NOT like (-):
--- Practically No plot .... nothing much happens .... no drama.
--- 2-dimensional characters .... No depth, no psyche ..... all the more kudos to NJF who made Old Man Yu shine!
--- Lead actress froze w/ open eyes as he passionately kissed her .... She's unhealthily skinny ... Does too many pout faces.
--- What's w/ the mystery of Mr. Beautiful and KO???.... It was probably a BL in the novel, they only hinted at it here .... but at least turn their friendship into something worthwhile!! .... not just shallow encounters :P:P
--- Her friend Er Xi is way too bubbly!!! .... trying too hard to be cute :P ... too much like a manga character .... a different actress could have turned her into someone cute and lovable ... ( I am thinking of Dilraba as the impish red fox princess in Eternal Love .... so cute and energetic w/out being annoyingly bubbly)


*** Recommended for those who like:
--- Refreshing love story, b/c no love triangles ... no angst ... trusting couple who talk things out.
--- fluff and cute scenes
--- No real villains
--- Don't mind that there is NO strong Plot .... and NO well-developed or complex characters. :(((

*** Not recommended if you want depth, complex characters or interesting plot.

*** Ratings
- Story - 3 .... simple, nothing there.
- Acting - 5 ... Not bad not good ..... some supporting were bad ... Only NJF's performance stood out as very good.
- Music - 5 ... It fit well ... bit too bubbly and "pop" for my taste.
- Rewatch - 2 ... only if in front of me, I won't turn around.... But I would never seek it out.


Basically, very bland and very blah!!!! ..... Not much to love and even less to hate .... If not for Yang Yang's kisses, there is nothing to watch.

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If you are looking to get into historical kdramas (saeguks as they are known) this is definitely a drama to begin with. The world building is glorious and the story plot in itself is incredible. You are left waiting on tenterhooks till the very end!

And of course, where would a good drama be without a stellar cast. Believe me when I say this, every single role in this drama was so well casted. Kudos to the three main leads though, Lee Jun-ki, Shin Min-a and Yeon Woo-jin. They all did a fantastic job and the chemistry that Shin Min-a has with both the leads is incredible.

Loved this drama all the way to the very end!

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This isn't an amazing drama but it's by far the best short drama that i've watched.
Short dramas like this one are usually not that great, but this one wasn't half bad.

I enjoyed watching it, i like the plot but i don't necessarily love the way the plot was played out.
I like the idea of this drama and the over all story line, but the relationship, how they get together and how fast everything happens, maskes it really unrealistic, but you shouldn't have too high expectations when you watch these dramas, they are trying to tell us a story in a very limited amount of time which can be hard, but this is by far the best short drama that i've watched.

7/10

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