What starts as an engaging meditation on how artistic works can take on a life of their own devolves into a jumble of incomprehensible rules and mangled timelines. The bigger thematic ideas get lost as you sense the actual writer struggling every bit as much as her cartoonist antihero to give her work an ending. And unfortunately, just like him, she can’t seal the deal. In a world where everyone can magically draw (or write) themselves out of difficulty, the act of creation gets reduced to expediency, not art. The fans within the show know something’s gone awry, but, alas, the fans in the “real”, real world are left hanging too. As a metaphor for how stories slip away from their authors, this one turns out to be a bit too apt.
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Actually, it’s a parody of the video game series Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior here in the west), which is a HUGE thing in Japan (even the enemies, such as the adorable slimes are here!
If you've never played a JRPG (or any RPG), you'll miss about 20% of the references/jokes; but I'm sure you'll be able to enjoy it.
The story is quite simple and straightforward; a young man is elected as the "village hero" by mistake and sets on a quest for (nothing less) than defeat the "evil lord" and restore peace in the country. On his journey, he'll find the usual RPG characters to be his companions: the wizard, the rogue and the warrior.
All the performances are great (although Takayuki Yamada -whom I adore since the crows saga- as the hero; Tsuyoshi Muro as the wizard; and Jiro Sato as the budda who guides them are outsanding).
As a parody is perfect (at least for me being an ex-Dragon Quest player), and although some of the jokes are used more than one time, is never boring.
If you're looking to a low budget action comedy, this one's almost perfect; and if you're an RPG player, is a must.
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At first it was details and mysteries around Yoo Jung that caught my interest, but eventually I found myself getting more and more hooked on supporting main roles whose personalities had so much to offer. I was basically having very busy time falling in love with every single main role: They all had their own cute features and flaws and yet surprisingly addictive mysteries and secrets.
In all, the acting was superb (I'm having a serious arising Seo Kang Joon problem) soundtrack was beautiful, clothing was on point (Kim Go Eun could wear a garbage bag and look fashionable), humor was on point and was on a good balance with drama and the story line had way more to give than I expected!
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STORY: The story was pretty good, had some cute, nice, funny, and serious moments. Everyone just fit in the drama, even the side stories are good and not draggy or boring.
ACTING/CAST: I have to admit, Hwang Jung Eum did a good job, she was like the perfect one for this drama, some people might hate on her, maybe because of her overreacting or laugh but she is funny, also in Kill Me, Heal Me. I saw Park Seo Joon first in Kill Me, Heal Me, once i saw him acted in this drama, he seemed different which was a good thing because his acting has really improved, He plays a very funny serious guy, which really fits him well. Choi Shi Won and Go Joon Hee are pretty good side characters, somehow, i didn't hate them, because side characters in a lot of romance drama can be annoying and bad. The only major flaw in this show was Hwang Seok Jeong, her character Kim Ra Ra, and her acting, and everything about her character was just bad, horrible, and annoying, also, weird.
MUSIC: The music in this drama was nice, but also fun because it a lot of random famous songs from movies and other, there was a lot of songs that I've recognize which was really funny, the music was good but not amazing great.
RE WATCH VALUE: I'm definitely going to rewatch this drama like in 3-5 months, that would be average for a value score 9, if it was like a 7, maybe 8-10 months, 5, maybe 1 year - 1 year and a half, and If it was was a value score 10, every 1-3 months :D
OVERALL: A nice really good funny drama, it's score on MDL should be hire, this show is good, you won't regret it, i should've finish this drama months ago, it was there but just never looked into it, but i'm glad i saw this drama, i like it a little more than Kill Me, Heal Me but if i rewatch Kill Me, Heal Me, it might change... !
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The plot is pretty simple, a school bus drives off a cliff during a school trip and leaves the survivors struggling to survive, yet they managed to make this drama entertaining. By focusing on each characters story left a lot of space for the character development and while not all of the remaining characters did not get all the development they deserved and needed, i feel like it was still one of the best things about this drama. That being said, i still wish there was more of the survival part itself. I wonder how they survived with only water and candy and could still run around the forest like it was nothing. I also think that the progress on finding the bus and the missing people was a bit lazily done, and they could've done better.
Acting was ok, but could have been better. Sakuraba Nanami did an alright job on her character but i personally found the main girl Konno acting like a goody two shoes all the time kind of off-putting. Yamashita Rio did the best out of all on portraying her character. The other characters and their actors were not too memorable. I'll probably look something else to watch from these actors though.
Music was mediocre, but i feel like it didn't suit the drama.
Overall i rate this drama 8/10, since the drama kept me entertained through the series and never left me bored. As for now, i don't see myself rewatching this drama, but i'll keep my eyes open.
(Sorry for any bad english, i'm not a native speaker and this is my first review ever :--D)
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I think this drama is pretty overrated, mainly because of the top stars in this drama and popularity of it because otherwise, I don't see a basis for this 8.9 rating. Personally, I love Kim Soo Hyun -he's one of my favorite actors- but for some reason this drama just didn't cut it for me.
This drama had a lot of potential but it kind of just went all over the place. There's a lot of genres and different mysteries throughout, which is what brought this drama down. The genres ranged from historical/saeguk genre dating back to the Joseon years to modern 20th century top-star actors to family drama to crazy messed up crime to magic sci-fi to comedy to conglomerate businesses. I like all of these genres, but when they are combined, it just doesn't work out. Like one moment you'd be watching middle-aged scholars write historical books in the 1600's and the next moment you'd be brought into reality when a top star actress is being arrogant and demands to be escorted at every second.
I loved the sci-fi theme about how Do Min Joon was an 'alien' and had special superpowers, and I think if the story just focused on this, it would have had so much more potential and still have been very interesting. But when they brought in egocentric film industry characters and psychopathic serial killers, it really made the story all over the place. Sometimes, it even felt like Do Min Joon's powers were just a side story because it focused so much on solving the murder crimes committed by Lee Jae Kyung (who was a complete psycho btw, and everytime he came on the screen, I just wanted to scream).
Do Min Joon, however, was an amazing character and I loved his personality. Deep down, he is a very kind person that is loyal and will sacrifice his life protecting others. His awesome alien capabilities made him all the more cool and I wish I could do those things like teleport lmao. Kim Soo Hyun being cast as him was a great choice, but I wish I could say the same for Jun Ji Hyun. Her character was someone that was spoiled, bratty, and arrogant af considering she plays a topstar actress. Sometimes I wish someone else was cast because she is considerably older than Do Min Joon. However, after her career went downhill, you can see that she is actually someone pretty cute with a lot aegyo, especially when she starts to realize that she likes Do Min Joon, and I thought it was very cute when she got clingy to him. Even though she seems like she has everything in the eyes of others, she really doesn't.
Cheon Song Yi's brother was hilarious. At first, he was portrayed as someone very arrogant, and I was like...? what's his purpose in this drama; but, especially after seeing his interactions with Do Min Joon his character took a complete reversal and he was really funny. Also considering the fact that Ahn Jae Hyung plays a high school student even though he is older Do Min Joon is also pretty funny. That E.T. moment though (replayed that like 10 times xD)
Okay moving on to some other characters. Hee Kyung go really annoying sometimes and it got on my nerves, but I liked him better towards the end when he realized what his brother was doing bc he was pretty smart about it. Also, his obsession towards Song Yi was kinda creepy, like no offense but an enlarged picture of her on your bedroom wall?? Okay sorry. Anyways, I also liked Yoo Se Mi's brother, the prosecutor, because he was pretty smart yet still handsome!
The music was nice, but not amazing. There's of course the infamous 'My Destiny' song which I like, but has been overplayed so much that I kind of don't like it anymore lol.
Overall, this drama was okay, but just could have been so much better! Just the plot had so many categories that it just couldn't concentrate on one thing to make it better. However, this may be a good drama to watch if you are new to kdramas!
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All I can say is that dramas from 90s were the best! Beach Boys is a masterpiece of bromance.
I will miss Hiromi and Kaito.
The actors were great. They made me laugh and cry until the end. Everyone has something interesting and touchful.
I would like to watch it over and over and over.
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I really enjoyed watching Start Again, the characters are all so likable and the plot was really interesting, the only con being it was very predictable, but at times it could also surprise you, especially as it neared the ending of the episode, cliffhangers that made you want to watch the next episode. The romance is sweet, not overly strong but enough to keep you cheering for them through their troubles. The beginning was extremely well delivered, and kept me wanting more, until it began nearing the end when the plot started to get rushed, and it just got too predictable for me to take seriously, eg I skipped some scenes at the VERY end, like the last few episodes.
The main cast, including Park Min Ji (who played Bo Ra in Cheese in the Trap), Kim Jeong Hoon, Park Sun Ho and Go Woo Ri were pleasant to watch especially Go Woo Ri who played her ‘’ rather antagonistic’’ character very well. The other thing about Start Again is that there are A LOT of connections between the characters, this can either be a good or bad thing, however I found it interesting, but often at times silly. The music is one of the best things about this drama, the OT/ET by Park Seeyoung I really loved, and the many songs and instrumentals used I still listen to today.
Start Again was the first daily drama I watched, and I really enjoyed watching it, and I'm happy I completed it, there were many times that had me excited for the next episode, times when something unexpected happened, and the times that were just so sweet made Start Again a memorable drama to say the least, plus the 35 minute length daily was perfect. Although I don’t want to watch this drama again anytime soon, I can definitely see myself re-watching it in the future!
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