Reviews

Even though I watched HERO for the first time this year, it gave me a nostalgic feeling that only jdramas give me. This drama was made in 2001, and it made me feel as if I was watching it that very same year.

What was/is it about this detective-type drama that makes the feeling of nostalgia resound so deep within me? The story is quite simple, yet chalk full of life lessons that you soon won't forget. That combined with a perfect OST (I can hear Utada Hikaru now) and Kimutaku (he is so charismatic I just cannot) made for a memorable drama full of charm and HEART (something I equate with jdramas in general). The rest of the cast was cool too, but I didn't really care for Matsu Takako that much.

So HERO is about this unconventional prosecutor named Kuryu Kohei who shakes things up and challenges the way cases are solved at a detective branch that he's been transferred to. His coworkers are not used to his unusual ways and are weary of him/ don't take his seriously (at first). And with each episode, Kohei tackles a new case, and each time it shows what an excellent prosecutor he is. Each case deals with some type of issue, and you can bet there will be a heartwarming life lesson at the end of it.

At the end of the day, this drama is not all that spectacular. BUT it left me with a good feeling in the end. There's a reason HERO was Kimutaku's highest rated drama. The combination of all the factors I mentioned earlier (simple story + OST + life lessons) was put together so perfectly the way only jdramas are. This was a solid 8 in my book. If you are a Kimutaku fan, I urge you to watch.

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Not a complete waste of time, though that's hardly a compliment...


Story 5.0/10:

The story had potential, but it left a lot of things unresolved while throwing in some tropes towards the end that just seemed try-hard. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself though. I think the show did a decent job of selling the Cinderella piece, Ha Won has been getting the short end of the stick most of her life, she's got the evil step fam, the whole poor status going on, but she's got that spunk, that will to not give up, and despite all of the BS thrown her way, manages to grow into a decent young lady! Unfortunately, I can't say too much more about my thoughts on this title without spoilers, but it was just a middle of the road drama. I honestly watched because there wasn't any other shows on during those days. It had enough to keep me watching until the end, but I did skip over quite a bit as well. It had the forced cohabitation trope, but somehow I still found myself disappointed. There were a couple of scenes that were squee worthy, but overall...meh.


Acting/Cast 6.5/10:

So starting with Jung Il Woo as Kang Ji Woon... I didn't really care for his character, there's the jerkish characters that have a good reason, and then there's just straight up jerks and I felt he leaned moreso in that direction. Not that there weren't good reasons for some of his angst and jerkish ways, but I was unclear about some of his motivations. As far as the acting piece, while I'm not a huge Jung II Woo fan, I feel he does some fine acting, and to be fair none of these characters other than Eun Ha Won seemed to have that much depth to them any way. I've only seen him a couple of other times. The first time I saw him was in "Flower Boy Ramen Shop" (2011), I loved the drama and he had some cool/romantic/squee moments, but really didn't like his character in that either. In "49 Days" (2011) (omg the tears felt like they lasted that long! lol), I think I liked his acting and character best, really top notched. I also saw him in "My Fair Lady" (2009), but again, such an annoying character, that's literally all I can remember thinking back on that dram (though to be fair it was a pretty sub-par drama anyhow. I hope that perhaps I can see him in another good role again soon, I know he can do it. I really need to see "The Moon that Embraces the Sun", I've only ever heard good things about it, I just haven't had the time to watch.


Park So Dam as Eun Ha Won. This was my first time seeing Park So Dam, and I really liked her acting, I always love spunky kiss ass female leads like Eun Ha Won that don't take any shit! I love how she stood up for herself and for others as well. It looks like she's been in a lot more movies than dramas so far, but I really want to make time to see "Beautiful Mind" as I love love love Jang Hyuk, and I'm interested to see her opposite a really good actor (sorry Jung II Woo, no offense!).


Ahn Jae Hyun as Kang Hyun Min. God this character was annoying as hell! Without giving any spoilers away his reasons for doing things....so dumb. I'll just leave it at that. I think I could've looked over the not so great acting if at least I could've liked the character, but alas... to be fair it looks like he's only been an active actor for a few years, but I've been pretty not impressed so far. I think he's okay as a supporting character, like Song Yi's younger brother in "My Love From Another Star" (2013), and Park Tae Il in "You're All Surrounded" (2014). I didn't see him in "Blood" (2015), but I'd heard nothing but terrible reviews and while I usually don't let that deter me from watching something (I do stand by making your own educated decision over just taking a reviewers words for it), but I think I was busy with other dramas and just never got around to it. I'm not sure I will since I'm also not a big fan of Gu Hye Seon (though apparently he is since he married her lol), I liked her in "Boys Over Flowers", and "Angel Eyes" wasn't too bad, but I shudder at the thought of "The Musical" lol. But I digress, I think this drama could've done without his character and would've been just fine.


Lee Jung Shin as Kang Seo Woo. I actually liked Seo Woo, but his character had no real purpose IMHO. He was just kinda there, and I did feel bad at one point for certain spoiler filled reasons, but honestly, his character was pretty weak and didn't grow or change in any substantial way as characters should in a story. This looks to be Lee Jung Shin's first main role, so I can forgive some of the stilted acting, but I feel he's got potential. It also rounded out CNBlue members in dramas lol I'd already seen the rest of the guys in one or two dramas a piece I feel like the circle is complete! lol I wouldn't mind seeing him in something else, hopefully something that's got some better writing.


Choi Min Sung as Lee Yoon Sung. I didn't realize until I looked up his filmography that I'd see him in a supporting role as lead waiter in "Pasta" (2010), Aw, he was so adorable! Unfortunately, I haven't caught anything else he's been in, though I hope to. As Lee Yoon Sung I felt he played the stoic character very well, and while I'm sure I'll be in the minority, I honestly had hoped after some early scenes in the show that he would be a romantic interest for our lead female (pls forgive this one spoiler?), but alas he wasn't which was saddening since of the Four Knights, I liked him the most. I also felt that he totally got screwed over for the latter half of the series, but I honestly can't say more without some spoilers...but ugh. I felt like he had some good chemistry with Park So Dam. I'm looking forward to seeing his next drama whatever that might be, and see if I can't find some time to catch him in his earlier roles.

Lastly, Son Na Eun as Park Hye Ji. I'll chalk up her stiff and not so great acting to just being young and early in her craft, with this being her first main role. I haven't seen any of her previous dramas which she was a supporting character in. Her character wasn't so bad in the beginning and I actually felt pretty bad for her, but unfortunately she became highly annoying and whiney and so my empathy and compassion went bye-bye. As a secondary female lead, Park Hye Ji was underwhelming at best. There unfortunately isn't much else to say about her.

With main roles out of the way, there is the supporting cast, but I don't have anything better to say unfortunately. While I rated the acting and casting highest in the categories, it was still pretty much middle of the road, it wasn't the worst I've seen, but wasn't anything to write home about either. I feel like any good actors could've been switched with those cast because there was no real depth to the characters, I'm sure the actors did the best they could. I often say that actors need to step up and it's possible even with poor writing a drama can be decent at the least, and this drama was just ok, but I think that's the best they could've hoped for. Again, so many plotlines were introduced but then dropped or forgotten. smh


Music 5.0/10:

I usually don't have much to say about music. This was nice, felt like it went with the drama, just middle of the road, pleasant, but nothing I felt I need to run to itunes for.


Rewatch Value 0/0:

1 since I can't seem to choose zero. While there were a few moments that were cute or even invoked a squee, it was all pretty forgettable... I couldn't even tel you what those moments were now lol


Overall 5.5/10:

I wouldn't tell someone not to watch it, but I wouldn't recommended it either... but if it was like a choice between this or Nail Shop Paris, then yes, most def watch this. :P

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Very well done short movie, it shows the gay-straight love triangle really well from the woman's point of view. For me Aono Miku (Kanako) steals the show from the delectable Saito Yasuka (Souta), while poor old Arai Yusuke (Doumoto) is definitely the villain of the piece! She gives a heartfelt performance. She's a lovely woman too. Now that I've seen both parts of Love Place (in the wrong order - but it doesn't make a whole lot of difference), I can see the irony between Parts 1 and 2 in how the impact of the love triangle affects one boy in the first and the other in the second part. Ravel's Bolero is a bonus. As is the catchy song at the end - although, as we say in England, you can have too much of a good thing (3 repeats?!).

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So why do I like this wretched show you ask well let me tell you
Khun Khed falls in love with Fah its love at first sight...So I understand the way his character worked. She is incredibly beautiful he would have to be a fool not be so jealous and possessive of her. Fah thinks she has finally met prince charming when they meet initially. She is basically a warped version of Cinderella who is sold to her prince who acts more like a beast.
When he knows that she is in debt as her step mom has taken a loan from him and sent her to work for him he basically thinks she has been sent to be his mistress and after seeing her talking to a few men is jealous beyond words. So he treats her like crap but on the other hand is incredibly scared of her disappearing or leaving him. he locks the doors at night when she sleeps. he spends most of his time watching her if she talks to another man he becomes incredibly insecure that she is going to run away or leave him. Khun Khed doesnt allow her to use her phone as he is scared she will phone someone to take her away nor does he allow her to leave his house except if he is with her. Fah at first is happy that her debter is khun Khed but soon is treated like crap and confused by his behavior she is torn between her duty as a good daughter to pay the debt for her father or run away. Part of me thinks that after first meeting Khed Fah fell in love with him then and puts up with his none sense or tells her self that she is just to be near him. Khed has a fiance and brother TOW AND OTM basically they play nice plot devices to show the incredibly strange way Khed is obsessed with Fah. When push comes to shove SPOILER SPOILER ALERT The day before Kheds wedding, Fah eventually decides she would rather leave than stay there and be his toy to chew...also she is kind of jealous...Khed kidnaps Fah and takes her to stay in a cabin in the woods. Basically where he is happiest as no one but him is around Fah.
When he misunderstands that she has run away...
Khed grows angry as his biggest fear loosing Fah has come to a head.
He rapes her basically making her his mia...
He then realizes that she is a virgin and his been accusing her 16 episodes straight for no reason and treats her like a princess.
But honestly His love is incredibly overbearing and passionate its the kind of Love that old Lakorns used to have, new lakorns have mis placed with all the comedy they insert into it.
Film and Koy have amazing chemistry.
Fah is strong in her own sense she is not a complete door mat to khed.
I really enjoyed this show. It is not for the light heartend

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Seeing the end of this movie, I've increased my rating. It seems initially just a gentle-paced, interesting story of some male hustlers. However the seemingly bizarre ending is a very clever twist indeed, making the lead character (Tatsuru) confront his own character and the life he's leading, which is based on suppressing his real feelings. There's also an interesting twist before that involving one of his former "clients". I can't say more or I'll give the plot away. But I will say that this movie will repay careful watching and thought. It's more than just a pleasant amusement with some pleasant faced actors. I have to disagree with the other reviewer. I think the slow pace and the talking are all part of the build up to what is a thought-provoking ending. I hope I'm right in thinking that it's a good ending in the sense that people can only grow when they get insight into themselves and how true to themselves they are being in the life they are leading. For me that's a good ending and a meaningful movie.

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I'll take the liberty to write a review about this, even though crime dramas aren't my forte. Cheo Yong had everything in the book to be amazing, 10 episodes later i'm still wondering why the result was THIS lackluster... Shall we find out together?

Story
Your very, very basic police procedural. Cop + partner team up to solve murder cases. They tossed the ghost concept in there to make it original, or more interesting but they failed. Don't expect to be scared or thrilled because the drama is just a typical police procedural. I feel that the drama aspired to be CSI meets Supernatural but it couldn't pull it off.

First 2 episodes are great in setting the tone, the base story and backstory. Episodes 3-8 have an episodic format, episode and different case. I expected those episodes to reduce themselves in soulless cases but usually procedural dramas come with kickass, amazing episodic plots that keep you on the edge for the whole episode. I don't know if this was just me not being a fan of police dramas, but the cases here were extremely tedious. All of them tried to be unpredictable and i could see the punch line when they wanted me to go *wow* but i felt nothing. There was no build-up for that climax to make an impact so it always left me uninterested. Last 2 episodes explore the backstory that was introduced in the first 2 episodes. Not bad, but the ship had already sailed by that moment... too little too late.

I blame everything mostly on the boring dialogs. It wasn't that the cast were acting like reading lines, it was that the lines themselves were unisprired... 75 minutes per episode need some inspirational dialogs to keep me going because my pillow is too fluffy and i tend to doze off fast!

The drama introduced several superntural concepts like human blood injuring ghosts, and other special/magic weapons ect that were never explained. Poor plot development overall

Another major problem i faced was the ridiculous and infuriating camera work. Apparently the cameraman was either drunk or seriously high. I can totally see how it was fun for him to zoom in and out x50 a thousand times during a scene, i would have laughed too had i been there, but me watching it, i felt dizzy and irritated and i couldn't even focus on the conversations.

The budget was overall, obviously very tight and the whole cinematography was pretty basic too. 10 episodes 8 different cases and i remember none right now while i can easily recall cases from other police dramas i watched in the past. The drama was good for cheap entertainment but there are far better dramas of the same genre out there.

Acting
Had its problems but not that bad either. The main cast was pretty solid but not memorable. Oh Ji Ho was good enough, but pretty forgettable and felt like he didn't put any effort in his work -his fighting scenes were mediocre at best. Same goes for Oh Ji Eun, i barely remember her face. Jeon Hyosung was the only memorable actor in this, not because her acting was impeccable but because her character was the most likeable one.

The supporting cast was mediocre to bad with no enjoyable performance whatsoever.

Recommend/Rewatch
I will never rewatch this of course, i regret finishing it to be honest. I could only recommend this to police procedural fans who know what to expect. This is not your average kdramas, no romance ect. It wasn't bad but there are better similar dramas out there.

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"A mystery unfolds with a woman named Madoka, who is a killer, and Ataru. The woman possesses the same extraordinary memory and deductive reasoning abilities as Ataru." -- That's the blurb on the movie but, sadly, it really doesn't convey the sheer wonder that this movie holds.

Ataru is an autistic savant with the deduction and reasoning skills even Sherlock Holmes would envy. His fate is tied to Madoka's in a fundamental way. Autistic people have feelings even if they can't always relate to them properly, and Ataru certainly has his AND his own unique way of expressing them (which does have some comical moments as well as sad ones).

Nakai Masahiro truly NAILED the autistic characterisations, he also made Ataru such a complicated character but so lovable at the same time. He's a truly gifted actor to play an austic savant so FLAWLESSLY and it's why I gave this film a 10 on the acting scale.

I would love to see a series with Nakai Masahiro reprising his role as Ataru, and witness how he deals with everything from the this point onwards - his life was never easy; trying to live in a world he didn't understand, populated by people he couldn't really comprehend. But now it's even more complicated and lonely - so I'd like to see not only how his friendship with Maiko and Shunichi progresses, but also how he now relates to Larry....the latter would be the MOST interesting one to witness.

The movie has it's funny moments, it's sad moments and some pretty weird ones. But it's a truly wonderful movie and one I KNOW I will definitely watch over and over again. It has a twist at the end that is one of those 'NONONO!!' moments and if you don't shed a single tear then you have no soul. Me? I cried a veritable river of them..... T-T

Trust me, not only will I be watching this one again; if KissAsian get the others I will DEFINITELY be signing up to those too. I found this movie by accident - so, SO glad I did. Watch it - you won't regret it. I'll definitely give it 9.5/10.

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If you're looking for a cute, easy to watch drama that's short, sweet and satisfying, then look no further!
Go Ho's starry night is one of those feel good dramas that makes you crave more after every 20 minute episode, plus the cast were totally spot on
Kim Young Kwang and Yuri's chemistry was on fire, and I was very surprised by how amazing Yuri was! Excellent in her role, you'd actually forget she is an idol. Hope to see her in more dramas in the future.
The web drama is also scheduled to air on Korean television in the near future. I hope it gets the recognition it deserves

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So I've completed this web drama about 3 or 4 months ago and I'm a little surprised people haven't watched it fully. I know on YouTube there is a user that still has only clips for just Alex and Benny but if you click here you can watch the series, that way everyone can give a review and and comment a little more on this because i truly do love this series:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2PK_v3m5m-LbkdySEUxZW5Cc00

-please let me know if there is anything wrong with the link or the uploads themselves and i'll correct it.

I love this series so much. It was much more than a BL series in all honesty. I mean sure, most people came only for Alex and Benny and they are both my favorites don't get me wrong but the story line revolved around much more than just the lives of two guys whom themselves had a pretty heart wrenching story line. It's about friendship and being there for one another, it's about having the courage to stick up to your parents for you individuality and happiness while maintaining that bond. It's also about not always needing a lover to make you happy or doing something that you feel you should do just when you know that you don't want to.

The actors were amazing, the scenes portrayed a mundane feel. It's a great balance of serious, casual and comical. I would recommend this to a lot of people and i would love for it to have a season 2 if they decided on one.

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Before I continue further with this review, I have to say that one of the best parts of this movie which is that there is NO DUBBING! This is extremely rare for a Chinese movie, especially with a foreign actor and I loved that they didn't have to use dubbing. As a huge fan of the uber talented Lee Joon Gi, I definitely had to watch this. My experience with Chinese movies weren't the best, I admit, but I gave it a try anyway and I'm so glad I did.

I think it's safe to say this storyline has been done a million times. The plot is by no means unique, but I still found myself anticipating the events to come. The execution of the the story, I thought, was done really well. If you're impatient, you may be tempted to drop it at the beginning, just because they present a series of events that happen so quickly you don't even know what's happening. That is actually what I really appreciated though, because the second half of the movie focuses on unfolding the previously introduced scenes and connecting everything together in a sort of genius way.

Lee Joon Gi was of course, amazing as always (I may be a bit biased). He's honestly one of the best actors I've seen. His acting was extremely natural, even for parts that required him to speak in mandarin, which just proves how talented he is. Zhou DongYu's acting was pretty good considering it was one of her first roles. I didn't particularly like her character though because it seems as though the writers wanted to make her more complex, but instead she seemed a bit irrational and off putting.

I loved the music! For a While by Lee Joon Gi was played in the movie which was great. Unfortunately I can't post the Chinese title on here, but the title of the main track can be found on the Chinese wikipedia page for this movie. It took me forever to find!


Overall, I really loved it and would definitely rewatch. The cinematography was absolutely beautiful and you could really see the artistic intent behind each shot. Sure the movie isn't original, but it still made me an emotional mess and more of a potato for the entirety of the it (and maybe 10 minutes after as I contemplated the meaning of life). I wholeheartedly recommend it if you're into cheesy (in a good way) tearjerkers ^.^

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Addicted Heroin ruined me for another BL web series especially considering that this was my first BL drama. This drama open the doors to me for BL romance, The chemistry between Gu Hai (Huang Johnny) and Bao Luo Yin (Xu Wei Zhou) was amazing, I would never have thought that this was their first drama. Although we do not really get to experience the side characters relationship as much you still grow to love the chemistry that happens between them as well.
Characters
Gu Hai was the typical bad boy in this drama, he was big, tough, and had a chip on his shoulders. What I love about this drama was that Gu Hai was clearly the dominant one in the relationship. He was not afraid to express his thought and feelings and even himself into Bao Luo Yin life. The biggest surprise came from Bao Luo Yin, who was the typical top class student. He was arrogant, smart, but also kind to his friends, what blew me away was the fact that he was also dominant (just not as much as Gu Hai). He did not let Gu Hai do whatever he wanted without making the consequence know. Bao Luo Yin unlike Gu Hai did not just roll with the punch and often had to fight his feeling but also Gu Hai feelings as well.
Storyline
The storyline was great, it was realistic and made sense. There not of much I can review it without spoiling it. The issue that made the storyline lacking was the jumping. Due to a ban on "sexual scene" in China, there was a lot of scenes that were cut which often leaves you confused. I found myself nearly falling off the bed when the scenes getting intense to scratching my head and asking how in the world we end up somewhere else. Okay, it's not that bad, most of the time it is easy to follow how you got from point A to point B it just annoying because the chemistry is so good ( better than some opposite sex couple dramas) you often feel like your missing something.
Overall
The web series is amazing it funny, dramatically, and the romance is to die for. Its worth the rewatcth, which is exactly what I'm about to do and will go down in my book as one of these best (if not the best) BL dramas.

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