This review may contain spoilers
SO FAR (because i haven't watched the entire series - even though the rules to this says that you should) I loved it.
WHAT I HATED, (and this is no spoiler since it happens in the first ep) is that Korn and Knock stumble upon so many problems. I get that the series is titled "Bad Romance" for a reason, but i swear it was only directed and Korn and Knock. You'll see them cutesy in 20 minutes, and then the next 20 they're stumbling again. I wish they were just stable for at least one episode.
OTHER than that, this series is pretty legit. Just saying. I mean they've got me on the edge of my bed and I've binge watched everything up until now. I haven't laughed or cried at the same time for so long.
WHAT WAS SLOPPY was the sound effects. they literally had slapstick sound effects such as a car honking or a horse neighing or that *plonk* sound when you fall. It was the only thing that made this series less attractive, but honestly when you look past it, the story made my heart flutter and break within just one episode.
A 100% must watch. I promise. You'll get frustrated here and there from Knock and Korn but come on, you'll love it.
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Im happy to report the opening two episodes i was swept away. The opening theme is one of the best ive heard in awhile (its a trademark sound similar to CSI) and the cinematography was so nicely done. Those drawings adorable and gorgeous. Finally i now couldnt imagine Ji Bai as none other than Wang Kai and Xuxu none other than Olivia. They both suited the roles to a T.
Yet there is a but after putting out these praises. Of all the 3 novels from Ding Mo i find the love relationship in When Snail falls in love to be the cutest and sweetest. And just the right balance with the crime solving bit. But the production crew in this drama has opted to tip that balance and scale down the romance. I understand roles get magnify or diminish and plots do change in adaptation. But i cant really agree its for the better with some of the changes. Nevermind that its more centric on police detective skills, crime solving and profiling and character growth for Xuxu.
Just to name a few: Xuxu's pursuer was scraped off. Xuxu as the solo disciple to Master Ji scrap off. The JiBai pursue first got a 180degree treatment. The reason why JiBai went to Myanmar changed. Yao meng character changed but since its for the better im ok with that.
Lets just say cause i read the novel there were certain things i was waiting for and came up empty waiting and watching from beginning to ep 15. Nothing. Then we go from nothing to suddenly 75% in their romance development. I get it thats its snail" but that sudden development didnt have time in earlier episodes to plant and bloom properly.
Then episodes 18 to 21 was so epically good and bolstered up by such commendable acting from both our leads.
This drama could have been a solid 10. All the more cause we know the chemistry between our leads is powerful and that i felt was not fully unleashed. Ive been left in vain wanting that bit more for our lion and his snail. To the point i wish theres a special episode to see more of them as an item.
Il definitely miss Wang Kai as a detective n that man rocks the white shirt blue jeans look. Again want to note awesome casting of him n Olivia. This among the best C dramas have to offer in 2016. DO WATCH and if you love more romance development Do READ the novel.
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XD Okay now we get to the serious part.
Mask has a good message to deliver to the audience and the title therefore has a meaningful effect. The OST is good (one is memorable and the intro is nice as well). The villain is strong in this drama and the ending was heart-warming. The romance parts were very cute and fluffy and funny. However, the cons are too much to handle for this drama (I'm not talking about kiss scenes anyways).
Firstly I have to complain about Minwoo's role in this drama. He plays little to no importance to the story and most of his doings were goofing and playing lovey dovey with his wife. Every time his screentime comes, there would have Eunha/ Jisook involved. His back story is dramatic but not impressive as it doesn't seem to be the focus of Mask. This weak character is overshadowed by Jisook who is somewhat overshadowed by Sukhoon and maybe even Miyeon.
Secondly, the drama kept going back and forth with exorting, murder/ illegal activites/ victimising, intimidating and the circle goes on until the last episode. This is tiring to watch because Sukhoon's character was a really stiff character until the last episode.
Thirdly, the story is made from two pieces. One is romance and one is "fight between evil and and justice". This is by far my first drama that felt so broken like this. The romance part could be omitted entirely without influencing the plot to be honest. So everytime the romance came I would smile for the cute but I cant deny the fact that it was actually filler.
Lastly, the biggest problem. The logicallity and believability. How comes there are two persons with exact same face but not twins? I couldn't take it serious right from episode one.
On a side note, I hate this particular one scene where Minwoo said he had found a person he loved more than his mom. Like... I get it that he couldn't spend much time with his mom but still this line is so cringe worthy I bet Jo Jungho would have cringed like me when he read it out loud.
TL;DR this drama has fine romance parts but not recommended cause the plot is a mess right at the start.
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Story 8.5
The love story between a rich egocentric charming heir of a conglomerate and apoor but kind-hearted school-teacher. Jae In's grandfather acted as matchmaker/fairy godfather, to bring the two seemly mismatched characters together.
Acting/Cast 8.5
Ha Suk Jin and Jeon So Min were perfectly cast as the lead characters.
Music 8.0
Music moved the drama toward the conclusion.
Rewatch value 9
I watched this drama twice.
Overall 8.5
The weekly scripts and the leading actors' performances kept my attention, as the romance continued on the incline. I cringed at Jae In's fashion choices 90% of the time. Ha Suk Jin/Jae In looked perfect, otherwise.
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This review may contain spoilers
Although I have completed this long time ago, I wanted to share my own opinions. Let me warn you from the beginning my fierce wife is not a typical romance drama, it has got romance yes. but not as much as we expected. It's about a married couple how circumstances change them, how their marriage goes to a break down
An Zhen ( the wife one of the main characters) is a classical housewife. A perfect woman to get married, who works like a maid in her house, cooks, cleans, irons, and looks after her daughter. She's also beautiful, loving, caring, respectful to her husband's family.
So in those regards she has everything that a men asks for.
But her husband never understand her, she was turning around him doing everything for him. And as soon as her An Zhen's cuz moved into their house everything started to go upside down for them
As a typical man when he saw a younger attractive woman and made her his mistress. Of course he did not do it alone, it was the twisted cuz who changed his mind first.
When she was having the most difficult time while she was in the hospital , he forced her to divorce
So she slowly developed and changed, first she has been given a job by Lan Tian Wei ( Chris Wang) and with the help of him she reborns from her ashes..
It was too emotional too depressing. I hated James Wen while I was watching.. Sonia Siu - James Wen & Chris Wang both of them added too much to the drama.
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The story revolves around a group of women who start a restaurant led by Tanaka Tamako (played by Maki Yoko) to fulfill the dream of a friend who suffered humiliating abuse at work, to the extent of leaving the city and her career because of it. Each woman represents a different story line centered on the struggles of women in Japanese society: Tamako is a great asset in a company but is overlooked and disrespected for being a woman, Kyoko is a divorced mother whose husband, after years of mistreat, wants to take away custody of her son, Nitta is college graduate overachiever whose qualifications never seem to be enough to get her the respect she deserves in a job, Nanami is a retired career woman (whose job I won't say because it's a surprise) lacking incentive to get back to the world, Chika is a hikikomori suffering severe social anxiety with terrible parents, Haiji is a transgender woman facing the backlash of society (note that there's still not a very clear differentiation between gay men, transgender women and crossdressing men in Japanese media but for all intents and purposes I believe Haiji's character is depicted as a transgender woman rather than a homosexual male, although lacking an explicit categorization) and Airi is a young woman facing a severely sexist environment at work and dealing with internalized misogyny.
This drama tells their perspectives while throwing at you unabashedly how much crap they have to put up with from the sexist society they live in. They encounter men who despise them, men who fear them, men whose ignorance they end up mending a bit, and men who support them (though those are rare). But the story, even though centered on this competition, is more about them and how they learn to deal with it by supporting each other. If you're looking for romance, this is probably not your drama, because couple tropes here are turned around. If you're looking for nice looking ikemen with charming personalities, this is not your drama, because men here are not the point of the story. If you're looking for female friendship, girls supporting girls and great food created as a result, this is the drama for you.
This drama has probably ruined dramas for me. In a good way, if that makes sense. I've had my fair share of dramas in which problematic tropes and social themes get discussed (Hanawake no Yon Shimai and, in a smaller degree, Five Star Tourist, are some examples), but this one did not hold back at all. It reads Japanese social standards for filth. Before this drama, I overlooked overused tropes with problematic notions because "that's how jdramas are" and "I guess that's how society is", even if I was against them and sometimes downright turned off by them so much to stop watching or avoid some dramas for it, but I somewhat expected them to be that way. I expected the toxic relationships being romanticized, I expected the submissive lead to hold her head down, I expected the good-looking-bad-tempered man to treat the lead possessively and make her swoon for that aggression, I expected the use of the "nice guy" as a way to excuse behavior and do outright stalker-ish things which were seen as "romantic", I expected the "crossdressing man trope" to be used for comic relief or fanservice rather than talk about the problems of actual transgender people in Japanese society, I expected the lead to find her place in life by either exceeding in a company and cutting all links to emotions or leaving it all for a husband, I expected all that stuff. This drama showed me they don't have to be like that. You don't have to expect that kind of stuff anywhere. There are better ways to tell a story, more empowering ways, well written and well performed ways. You should ask questions and get upset and demand more. This is the kind of drama I want to see more of and the fact that it didn't get even considered in last year's poll here makes no sense to me.
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It was just one of the all round best shows I have ever seen. There is not one one thing I can pick out that I would have wanted to be different. The acting, the development, the twists and turns were just perfect. I have a habit of reading many reviews before watching the show and I read many mixed reviews but decided to give the show a shot anyway. Thank god I did. After watching the show I just can't understand and relate to any of those faults they found. I genuinely found the show just amazing.
Story: The main complaint in the negative reviews was the lack of story. I am not one for melodrama's so a story like this that is light but intense of the romantic side and extremely focused on main couple is something I am very content with. I don't believe you need major second lead jealousy, manipulative parents and all the crazy K drama go to cliches for the story to be interesting. I quite enjoyed this break from the typical angst. Something I was personally worried about before watching was the 'health' concept. I really didn't want it to be too preachy and to make you feel really pathetic for not being motivated like her but that god they approached it in a light enough matter.
Characters: This show made me realise the importance of chemistry. Honestly there could be nothing else and just the main couples interaction and the show wouldn't be boring because the chemistry was electric. It was like nothing i've seen in any drama or movie before. I didn't for a second feel like they were two actors playing a part.. I recently watched and dropped 'My lovable girl'.. A show that also showed me the importance of chemistry but in the opposite way.. This has lead me to make the hypothesis that chemistry between the main couple is what can make or break a show. Can we now mention the eye candy? How hot were all 3 of Kang joo eun's men? Cutie pie ji woong, Mouth water-ingly hot Joon sung and of course our flawless coach-inim
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The music is flows seamlessly through out, supporting the emotions as all the actors bring forth their feelings through their actions, mannerisms, eyes and smiles. The dialogue is short, but the smiles and looks accompanying it gives it so much meaning. The physical surroundings cocoons the story. This is a charming mature episode in the lives of 3 adults. The writer has written a wonderful story and the director has brought it to life, like a short novel but so full of deep but quiet emotions.
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Personally, I think the beginning was very well done. The child actors did a good job within the film, especially given it was such a big part. When it got to when she was older it got a bit confusing I thought, but after a little thinking you can understand. The story line was good, but I think it had a bit too many concepts thrown in. I wish it was a simple "girl returns to grandmother and has to adapt to life" sort of thing, but I understand that for a lot of people, that wouldn't sell. I also don't like how there are hints at romance within it, but then that is abandonned - you should either leave it or put it in. However if that sort of thing doesn't bother you then this film is pretty good.
As I said, the cast is quite good. The young children within the film do a good job, as do the grandmother and Hye-ji. The acting can't be flawed too much, but I don't think it was a perfect performance by anybody.
Overall, I would rewatch it possibly. I think it is a nice film and it does give you something to think about, which I enjoy. It was a good film.
Sadly, I can't tell you where to get English subtitles online. I'm sure they will come out soon. I watched it on a Cathay Pacific flight, so that's the only way I can tell you to get it (nice holiday in HK)
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The story could have been really well done if on a larger time scale (therefore why I suggest it should be a drama). It is very sweet but I think should have been more in depth. The story line is something that cannot and should not be rushed, but was. For that reason the characters weren't very strong, which then meant that you didn't have a strong connection to them.
For that reason, the actors, I don't think, could have done much better then they did. I think the main selling point for this film was the fact that they are attractive. That probably adds a lot more to the film then you would get otherwise. The music wasn't too memorable.
Just to note, make sure it is a good subtitled version because I found the version I watched (which to be fair was on a Cathay Pacific flight, so I would have expected more from paid translators) didn't have very good wording with it, and didn't translate what was written down, which seemed to be quite essential (I can't tell though).
Also make note that the ending is the most frustrating thing you will ever see and brings more questions then answers. However if you google it, you find out what the final plot was meant to be and you feel a bit more satisfied. Also look {https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E-qugSxZLA} as it has the deleted scene at the end. The director was an idiot for cutting out the ending because it kind of ruins the film - or at least it ruined a good 7 hours of my flight as I got frustrated for not seeing the ending.
Overall, I would get too frustrated to watch this again. At points I enjoyed the film, but I think it just wasn't well done. I enjoyed the theoretical story line, but wish that it was done better (preferably as a drama).
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