I mean, how do you get better than this? Healer is, to sum it up in a single word; precious. An utterly precious and beautiful production that gives so much warmth and joy. And so much love.
Now, normally I try to be "cool". Really, I do. I go around rooting for the underdogs. Over-hyped and mainstream artists usually do not get my adoration. Lee Min Ho, Kim Woo Bin, Park Shin Hye- all of these over-popular celebrities don't really do it for me. Clean cut looking, cutesy flower boys aren't my type either. I even go around putting an air of aloofness whenever I see crazed fan-girls and wonder how they can be so completely obsessed over a guy who barely looks 18. These are all the reasons why, me falling in love with Ji- Chang Wook is a great hypocrisy in its entirety but alas, it has happened and I have a terrible feeling that it's going to last for an eternity.
If it's any justification, I would say that the first time I saw him in Empress Ki, I really did think I was never going to like him and his beautiful face truly did nothing for me, rather, it was his excellent acting that ultimately sat my judgmental ass down. And if I was reduced to an obsessed mess for his highly flawed character in Empress Ki, I knew I didn't stand a chance with Healer.
To put it simply, watching him is pure bliss. He's just too fucking good. Despite the fact that the other characters brought their best, it's no denying that Healer is the king of the show. A puppet master that plays your emotions with utter abandon. I found myself getting attuned to his mannerisms; the way he often tilted his head as if considering the situation at hand, the way he spoke, his confident swagger and his innocent smile. I found myself sighing in complete content whenever he showed his face, bawling when he was in pain, pausing the button and literally caressing his face on the screen whenever he was down. I mean, at this point I am not even embarrassed to say that I more or less resemble the rabid fangirls I once scorned.
It's an evidence of his versatility that Ji-Chang Wook can perfectly execute entirely different roles and yet, retain the sincerity that always encompasses his acting. I'm blessed that I still have more of his shows left to watch because I know that stalking his Instagram feed and bookmarking his ridiculously adorable videos is nearly not enough for me.
The other actors do a marvelous job too. Park Min Young portrays the sassy and quirky girl with a big heart to the T. Even though I felt that her emotional scenes weren't as strong as they could've been, I have to admit that her character is very likable and strong throughout. Yo Ji Tae with his Kim Moon Ho always dazzles and the Ahjumma- the brilliant and hilarious hacker who always had Healer's back is a delight in her self.
Like many other users, I too agree that this show has one of the best OTP's in K-Drama history. The romance between the main leads is so untainted and pure that I swooned every-time. Their chemistry is absolutely electric and their love-story is heart melting. (If that's a word..)
With intelligent script writing, wonderful action scenes, epic romance, excellent screenplay, thoughtful plot and spot-on acting, Healer really does come full circle.
It will make you feel all sorts of emotions, with never a boring or forgettable moment and bestow upon you a journey that you wished would never end.
Without a doubt, a must watch.
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Episode 1: Us Against the World. Two school boys start dating and are faced with harassment, bullying, and violence.
Episode 2: Beijing Beijing. Two boys develop a relationship that is torn apart by family as one boy sacrifices their love to protect the other. Three years later they meet again.
Episode 3: The Groomsman. A happy gay couple celebrate their third anniversary but the relationship is threatened by a mother who wants her only son to have a proper family with kids. The other guy is willing to sacrifice the relationship so his boyfriend can be happily married to a woman.
Episode 4: I Promise You a City. Two men are in a long-term relationship and struggle with joblessness and infidelity.
ACTING/CAST: Overall I liked all of the cast for these episodes. The boys in Episode 1 were very cute.
MUSIC: Don't remember.
REWATCH VALUE: Sure, I'll watch it with a friend. I know how the stories end, and 2 have happy endings, 2 are somber (not sad really). Also they are really short episodes to rewatch.
OVERALL: Based on true stories, it was worth watching.
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ACTING/CAST: Both are cute guys and they do a good job. In fact, all the cast did fine. Nothing stellar but adequate for the story.
MUSIC: I was amazed at the music line-up they had for this They had Union J, Adam Lambert, Norah Jones, Neil Sedaka, Ronghao Li, and others. Certainly a surprise considering the audio was uneven and many times you could hear the wind blowing into the microphones or it sounded like the audio was being recorded from a phone.
REWATCH VALUE: Maybe. As I said, the ending was neat, but the overall audio/video quality is annoying.
OVERALL: Nice story with some good scenes and a sweet, romantic ending. There are also outtakes during/after the credit roll.
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The conflict here is among a three student BL triangle. The adorabe puppy dog cute and sweet Xiao An is courted by the slender and handsome initiator Maocai while the lean and passive Si longs silently for Xiao An, aka San. As with North Sea Texas action is slow but each holds the viewer in its own interesting and quiet, intense, sometimes teary way. While NST got to the intimacy quickly, The Raccoon did it in the Chinese way: meet to chat for a period of weeks, then a light hug, then after a few more weeks an embrace, at long last a kiss followed not too long afterward by the event itself. Because of the intense script and acting it's easy for the viewer to acquiesce to the step by step and often tumultous methodological Chinese way of courtship that continues to be the mode among college students in the People's Republic.
Indeed, when Xiao An finally gets seduced by Maocai it occurs at the end of a night of drinking after the successful student stage play in which Maocai was the "lead boy." The naked San waking in the hotel bed the morning after is both shocked and convincing when he says to the equally naked Maocai that he doesn't remember a thing. San however -- remarkably and with an on the spot total surprise to the viewer -- flips completely to initiate his own spontaneous passion play which in turn defines the interrelationships among Xiao An, Maocai and Si to the film's conclusion.
The criticism here is in the formal nature of relationships in Chinese culture that is reflected in the movie production. Plus the predominant Chinese personality as a people, i.e., not warm interactions. All the same, the young lady student pursuing Maocai is unusually pleasant as Chinese go, not to mention easily understanding of Maocai's polite disinterest of her. She moreover accepts with a certain fate San's inadvertent hold on Maocai, and the fact of San getting Si to skulk around on the QT together and away from Maocai's awareness, which anyway doesn't always work out for the clandestine two.
As with the Chinese Lit professor, the gal is another young Chinese to include the male roommates who accept love per se when they see it. And they see it each day as Maocai pursues the determinedly chaste San. Their roommates, friends and acquaintances simply and normatively refer to San as "the little wife." So while the ending suggests one thing it could also be quite another. For all the viewer knows the triangle could possibly still be on and the story is likely to be continuing. Then again maybe not. The one matter beyond dispute is that life goes on which is always the welcome conclusion to any such story.
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STORY: After relocating to Beijing, a young man (Yu Hao) searches for a job and ends up being a model, then he and the artist (Wang Feng) fall in love. I really liked that this is a nice drama involving two adult men and there were a lot of romantic moments. I really got the sense of their deep love for each other without the stereotypical seme/uke nonsense. They showed love and respect to one another. That made it worth watching this for me. Of course, no story could be all sunshine and rainbows. A bigoted family member causes strife for a while. The ending is sad but ambiguous. I suppose it's up to interpretation.
ACTING/CAST: The chemistry between the couple was amazing. As I said before, it looked like they loved each other deeply. They were on the same level. Also, the actor playing Yu Hao is hot.
MUSIC: Nothing memorable and the Chinese lyrics weren't translated.
REWATCH VALUE: I might watch it again but with a friend this time.
OVERALL: I knew by the title it wouldn't end well, but the romance made it worthwhile.
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This review may contain spoilers
from the story line i thought this drama is going to be brilliant but with sorrow i found it boring & lukewarm by all these slow motion scenes
SPOILER
i was so disappointed & frustrated with the role of jang nara
she literally pissed me off by her weakness & being such a coward
oh girl wake up ... really achieving ur dream doesn't mean at all that u should accept humiliation like this even when u r aggrieved
even when they ruin & stole her work she didn't open her mouth
& when she did she said it was her fault ... uuugh WTF >_< she really made me so mad
& the lie she got into took a very big space in this drama
this drama should be reduced to 14 ep. max & all the un-necessarily details should be deleted then it will great
most of the close people around are real punch of bu**** ... what the hell
they are all trying to disappoint her no one encourage her except her boy friend ... WTF
& they are interfering their life in a very provoking way
specially his F***** friend (jang ki hong)
this show really teased me so & most of the characters are so provoking >_<
even the kid she was so impolite
the only one that made me continue this torture was (choi jin wook)
it's really overrated
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Script / Story: this is the how the drama first attracted me, it follows the book closely. Since it's my favourite book, I pay close attention to the story and thank God, they kept the essence of the book and developed a full story for it. There are some other good books out there and I hope they can learn to keep the script faithful to the book as this one. I gave it a 10 for the script writer's effort to be so faithful to the book, but deducted 0.5 point for some minor mistakes and prolonged supporting cast screen time.
Main cast: Ah, where do I even start? I love both Mark Chao abd Yang Mi so much after this drama.
- Mark did such an excellent job in this drama and I give him a 10. You can read his emotions from his eyes and he's so good with kissing scenes, yummy. He's not the type that attracts you from the 1st look, but he'll definitely grow on you and you'll be head over heels for him along the way. The guy is oozing gentleness and devotion to his love. Don't trust what he said in the BTS that the director chose him on a one-month trial for the role. He's fated to play Ye Hua and everyone (especially the director) knows it. Major bonus is his chemistry with Yang Mi on screen.
- Yang Mi, oh my dear Yang Mi. I knew her before but didn't like her because of all the scandals /controversies surrounding her. But oh boy, after the drama, I can't imagine anyone else as Bai Qian and I now become her fan. She didn't execute her part as flawlessly as Mark Chao and I gave her performance 9/10. But she has the attractiveness, especially her eyes, that mesmerized me. While Mark Chao played 3 roles, Yang Mi had to take on 5 roles: Si Yin, Su Su, Bai Qian, Xuan Nu and the fake Su Su. Kudos to her for good performance on all 5 roles. And she rocked Bai Qian with her fierce eye gaze, very well done with the bad-ass side. Contrary to others, I myself enjoy her as Si Yin very much. Her look as Si Yin is bit weird, and could have been improved, but the way Yang Mi portrays the character is very satisfying to me. Her sweet and tender Su Su stole my heart too. All in all, she didn't disappoint is all I can say.
- Others: all are good-looking and did their job very well. I will have to credit the director for the excellent performance of the cast, cause I never appreciate a such a good supporting cast like this drama. They make the whole drama feel flawless.
Directing / Cinematography / Makeup / Costume: They totally deserve a 10 for the effort.
Music: Ah, the mesmerizingly beautiful OST, so many of my favorite scenes came with the beautiful music.
Rewatch Value: you will want to rewatch it over and over again. Yes, it's that good.
General Comment:
- I literally memorized the whole book so what happened in the drama made sense to me. But I have a feeling that first time viewers will be a bit confused about the story. But all in all it's a good show. It'll make you yearn for the book, then you'll understand the story more and will enjoy the drama even more in the 2nd round.
- Behind the Scene: a must-watch for this drama. Enjoy the silly, funny Mark ( be warned: he's not the gloomy Ye Hua once the camera stops rolling) and the cute Yang Mi having fun filming, how they tease the director and she tease them sometimes. Cry with them again in the heart-wrenching scenes with their real voices. Literally you will fall for Mark and Yang Mi again in the BTS. I still wonder how they can enjoy each other's company as friends off screen and yet have so much chemistry on screen.
- So now that I became Yang Mi fan after this drama, I went on a little search about her past. Turned out she was a way better character than I knew from all the controversies, plus she's very smart. There was a long story about why she was blackened after the drama "Palace", and I think she still has the most anti-fans in China now because for that, but it's good to know that my favourite actress is not that bad after all.
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-Great acting? Check.
-Great story? Check.
-Great writing? Check.
- Humour? Check.
-Craziness (it's in my criteria, ok?) ? Check.
-Brutal honestly? Check.
-Unexpected ending? CHECK.
So this drama had it all. So why no 10, you ask? Because that ending was VERY unexpected. A little too real for sentimental, silly me. I mean, I rightly should give it a 10, but after the emotional shitstorm I faced inside me after I finished it, I'm reducing 1 point just because I can.
This movie starts off very light and stereotypically. Pretty, nerdy girl and Slacker boy fall in love after Nerdy Girl decides to tutor Slacker Boy. They start going out and have a long distance relationship. Their relationship survives due to the power of their love and they live happily ever after. Well, that was what WOULD have happened if it went the regular route. Instead, this movie decided to show the other side- the more REAL side.
We see that love is not enough to save a relationship, that two people can love each other to death and yet not be able to stay together. We see that you can have all the dreams and fantasies in the world, but only a lucky few will actually see them come true. We see that every single action, whether it's a small "sorry" or a loud "I miss you", can greatly affect the future.
As the characters grow in age, the movie gets more and more complex. It stops being all flowery and hopeful and brings in a darker and much more honest scenario of a high school relationship. I have to say, Michelle Chen is an INCREDIBLE actress; her presence stole every scene from every character. Her expressions, her mannerisms, her acting overall was marvellous. She made her character into a real person, which is extremely hard to do.
I recommend this drama, but with precautions- if you are a huge fan of happy endings, this might not be it, unless you're willing to try something different. The ending is very well crafted and if you pay attention, you'll notice some parallel endings to some of the events that made a huge impact on the relationship of the leads. These parallel endings lead to a completely different outcome of the relationship.
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Total run-time for Season 1: approx. 8.5 hours over 12 episodes.
STORY: The drama in this series is very heavy. It is not as "cute" as the movie was. I would have scored it higher except that I felt the drama was too heavy. There are very, very few scenes of levity. It's one tragedy, or misunderstanding, or harrowing experience after another. While these make great drama, there are way too many scenes about extremely difficult situations; it's a wonder these kids don't need therapy. On the positive side, unlike the movie, this season ended with a SUPER sappy and sweet ending; OMG it was so worth it! I hope there is a second season.
ACTING/CAST: It took me a minute to figure out where I knew Bank from (actor: Chaiya Jirapirom) but I realized he played in Part Time The Series. I was so glad to see him again cause he really stole the scenes in Part Time. In fact, others also played in Part Time and Love Sick, so you will see some familiar faces.
MUSIC: It was good, a mix of a bunch of stuff, but they sure overplayed that piano melody every time something sad was going on, and that was almost constantly. I can almost hear the tune in my head now.
REWATCH VALUE: I'll probably watch it again with a friend. If I could recommend, don't watch it alone.
OVERALL: It's a long story full of hardship, and a lot more happened than in the movie (considering it's 8.5 hours of content versus the movie's 2 hours). I think the movie's Bank and Golf were much more cute but the series' Bank and Golf were more mature; especially Bank.
TL;DR: A worthy adaptation of the movie with a HAPPY ending this time!
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The two main characters were pretty likeable and had good chemistry, so the romance didn't flop. The plot was a bit of nothing, more go-with-the-flow than stick-to-the-script, but then again, it was still pretty entertaining.
Overall, I think it's great way to waste your time, because it really doesn't take much to finish an episode. Really, each is just like, 20 minutes anyway. There are definitely worse, less entertaining, things to watch.
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I'm a huge fan of Aom & Mike (Kiss Me) but that plot was totally different from the original storyline. So I wouldn't like to compare Kiss Me and Miss In Kiss. They really are far from each other in the story.
The magic here is the similarity yet difference between the original story and this version. I loved the little differences they changed compared to the original one. I feel better with this solution. I must tell that Zhi Shu is the most lovable "Irie-kun" ever! Never thought that the directors can make an emotional man from that cold hearted prince. Also never expected that I will cry on this drama. They made it into such a cute and heartwarmig dorama which became one of my ultimate favourites.
The actors were really good, even though they don't have much films. Wu Esther's crying skills are awesome. She can cry in a way my heart wants to explode and I'd like to cry with her too. Ah Jin's role is perfect for Gong Yi Teng, he was really cool but sometimes annoying. :) And Lee Dino is the best for the cold-prince's role. His acting was fantastic as well. As he performs it was touching especially in the last 2-3 episodes. Never seen a scene with "Irie" like here. Somehow I felt him closer to myself when I could see him struggling with emotions and in the last 2 episodes he was really cool!! I could see that he is a human too and he has feelings too. His walls have finally broken down and I could see how deep he can feel. A huge respect for this to the director! I must thank him that I was able to see that wonderful scene with Zhi Shu when my heart melted and I was crying for the first time!
I could feel the chemistry between Dino and Esther (but they are just on the second place because Aom and Mike has better chemistry) and it is neccessary for a good drama. I loved all of the supporting roles as well, everybody was good.
The music was not bad but I couldn't fall in love with the soundtrack. I'm sure I will rewatch this version because it's the closest to me and I think it has the best arrangement in all versions. :)
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