Reviews

beautifully shot and acted but loses steam

This is beautifully shot and you can see how high quality the show is. The premise is interesting - it's based off real historical figures (I saw the memoir on my Goodreads). I was curious how this might have been dramatized and adapted. The real lady Ui-bin Seong was only known to history by her role to the king: her pregnancies, her children, her title as harem wife and her death. On the other hand, we have a full story of the king's life in childhood, politics, etc. The king's life is also very messed up and I wondered how they were going to zoom in to this one part of his life story and romanticize it.

However, the drama pleasantly surprised me by adding a feminist element. This is a story about love when it is complicated by power. It's about what love means to a man vs a woman.

As much as I enjoyed these themes, I found their back-and-forth "be my concubine / I love you" and "no I'm my own woman" to be quite tedious. The drama started out very strong and it is very well-acted (especially Lee Junho) but the increasing politics started boring me around episode 7/8. Had to drop this.

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A MUST WATCH

I absolutely loved it! Everything was beautiful, no need for any change because it was perfect.

Plot- The plot was so interesting and it kept me on my toes. It wasn't fast paced at all but maybe it was because it had a good amount of episodes.

Actors- Amazing, absolutely amazing. The actors did such a great job! I really felt their emotions especially in the end where they made me cry lol. My favorite character is Lee Gang Doo, I felt such pain and love seeing him. You will understand once you see him.

This series is such a masterpiece, the best K-drama I've ever seen. If you haven't seen it yet then what are you doing? Go watch it! You will feel ALL the emotions, the bad and the good.
Hope this review helps you, have a lovely day!

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Naive

The storyline seems to lack coherence and logic. The narrative revolves around a girl who experiences an accident, leading her soul to inhabit the body of a celebrity. This celebrity is rumored to be dating the male lead, who is secretly married. The girl's altered behavior raises suspicions in the male lead, eventually leading to the revelation of the truth and the commencement of their love story.

An accident targeting the male lead is planned, but the girl, in the celebrity's body, saves him only to have the accident herself. However, upon returning to her original body, she discovers that it was all an illusion.

The narrative appears to be a mix of improbable events and a storyline that lacks believability.

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Wise Woman is a great miniseries with a historical setting. The story depicts the life and struggles of Xue Wan Er (played by Yu Cong) and how she manages to come back from a near death experiences and becomes stronger as she seeks revenge upon her enemies and the injustices committed against her by elders in order to keep their family “honor” by all sorts of dishonorable acts. Xue Wan Er is a woman ahead of her times who takes it upon herself to fight for her life, protect her son, and the lives of others that have been wronged by the Rong and Xue families. This miniseries is well written and the cast did a phenomenal job bringing their characters to life. Although there is just a slight romance, it is her involvement with her lover and her loyalty to the relationship that precipitates her fall and subsequent rise to become a wise woman. Enjoy it!

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Something different

I came across a fresh and unique story today, one that stood out among the 600+ Asian dramas I've watched. This drama sheds light on the darker side of the film industry and explores how individuals navigate through its challenges. While the saying goes, 'one rotten apple spoils the barrel,' in reality, some manage to remain untainted amidst the negativity.

I particularly enjoyed the chemistry between Han Joon Kyung and Seo Ah Ri, even though their on-screen time together was limited. Their interactions were adorable, and I found myself wishing for more scenes between them.

However, the confusion arose from the last scene, leaving me wondering about the possibility of a second season. Would a continuation introduce a love triangle or possibly exclude Han Joon Kyung's character?

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Hot Damn!

The premise is nothing new; Vigilante taking justice into his own hands but it's a really good series.

The 1st episode of this drama is probably the best episode I have seen of a Korean drama this year!! It was just so good from opening scene until the last. Taking names and kicking asses and I was here for it. Every episode was really good and kept the same intensity. I wanted Ji Yong to make them all pay!! I haven't wanted a bunch of people beat up badly in a long time. I have never watched a show with Nam Joo Hyuk, the ML but he was fantastic. So good! I really liked Lee Joon Hyuk he was great as Gangok. Shin Jung Keun as Mr. Bang was excellent as well.

There were some really good scenes and in episode 5 this was one of my favorites. I LMAO during the scene with Cho Heon and that low level criminal in the car. The criminal asked where are we going and Cho Heon said to his last address and he said you can drop me off here and I'll wait for a cab. That shit was hilarious.

This is a quick, bingeable, very enjoyable watch.

12/24/23

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It was an okay series. Maybe a good filler while waiting on your favorite show to aire. It has some good elements to it such as the supporting cast but I just couldn’t get into it. I finished the series but that was because I forced myself too. The FL just gave me negative vibes by her actions from episode 1. From episode 1 to 18, I watched this catch chases mouse game. She was somewhat resistant to the end which maid the progression of the relationship nonexistent.the acting wasn’t bad, the story itself wasn’t terrible but the FL was too much for me. I kept wishing he’d move on.

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my fav drama of all time

excuse me WHY ARE THERE ONLY 6 EPISODES. you do not know how many times i cried because of the drama, and the fact that this is so short. funny story actually, i started watching this at the dentist because they have a tv on the wall of their waiting area, and i was scrolling through netflix (u gotta take advantage of the free netflix yk) and my mum said that this was a recent release, so i started watching it. boy i was OBSESSED. after my dentist appointment, i went home and watched all 6 episodes back to back. this was also the beginning of my ji chang wook phase oh no. anyway, because of this stunning cast, beautiful story and THE MUSIC AND OST. ive already rewatched this drama so many times and i still get so entranced. and because of this i give this a 10. my favourite drama ive ever watched!

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Two words... Youthful and Amazing.

I think I have found my favorite k-drama so far, it will most likely enter my top 5 and will stay there. I have so many things to say about Twinkling Watermelon, it combines precisely many of the things that I like and love to see in kdramas (music, youthful plots, romance, comedy, heart touching, lovely characters, time travel and more).
This story so beautifully uses the element of music as an escape and as a form of genuine expression, it shows how difficult it is to grow up and how traumas and dysfunctional families affect our lives, it also portrays how beautiful it is to have a family and I'm not just talking about the one we are related to by blood. Likewise, it portrays youthful romance in such a charming way. Without a doubt, there are too many things that I highlight about this wonderful k-drama, which is worth watching, so I will mention a few:

- I loved the way the story is constructed, from the beginning it is intriguing and makes you want to continue watching chapters even if you need to sleep early, time traveling plot has caught my attention lately and I thought its execution was perfect in Twinkling Watermelon.
- I found the story very moving, it made me put myself in the shoes of all the characters, in the past and present. It made me cry so many times and also think about so many things, especially about my parents life.
- Each character is necessary and adds to the story, I loved the relationship of the boys in the band and I loved each one of them, seeing their interactions and how with the small intervention of Eun Gyeol they managed to build such a beautiful friendship and brotherhood made me want have friends like them.
- The comedy is so good and gives it a special touch. It made me laugh even when I had just cried because something touching had happened.
- I found the romance between the two couples cute, without being rushed and just how love arises in adolescence. (It also made me cry wishing someone loved me in such a way).
- YiChan's character is so cool, lovely, and funny and with Eun Gyeol, his dearly son, they make the perfect duo. I definitely love both of them.

I could go on saying many more things, but my final opinion is that this drama is very heart touching, with a well-constructed story, with characters very well created and executed by the actors exceptionally (I applaud the cast), and without a doubt with many lessons. In life there are many things that are out of our control and no matter how much we try to avoid them, they will happen, but we can always take advantage and overcome adversity, youth is a charming and very painful stage but those friends that we make genuinely and the family we created it can make it easier. I would recommend this drama without hesitation. I loved it from beginning to end and if I see her again I know I will feel the same. (Although I would have liked to see a little more of the new future and how things happened, especially Eunyu's future). No matter what, in my opinion it's a solid 10.

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Not bad, but it got a bit "Lost"

There was a lot to like about this Drama. The physics references were surprisingly well thought out and on point, especially in the first 2/3 of the Drama. I smiled at seeing reference to Einstein's "God doesn't play dice with the cosmos" and the reotort that "he not only plays dice but sometimes hides them"

The two lead couples were also very enjoyable ESPECIALLY the "2nd" couple. Their repeated reunions were sweet and funny and touching, and provided a cohence the story needed.

The last third went a bit soggy as it seems the writer threw in every bizarre, vaguely SF plot line they could think of, with more than a little nod to "LOST" - the whole ending on the island is where the show got a bit lost for me, sadly. But it was still a worthwhile watch and I'll be looking out for the leads again

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A Short Gripping Bingeworthy Thriller

Night has come was a suspenseful and entertaining Korean drama that may leaves you with questions.

Story:
The story was not the most original thing in the world, but that doesn't really matter if you execute it well. Which is what Night has come initially did. Every moment was gripping even if it was predictable of who the mafia is. Honestly, my biggest issue over this drama was the ending. I understand the parent's anguish over their daughter's death, but it's honestly doesn't make sense of why Yoon -Seo and Jun-hee were punished. Like they didn't know. Like I saw a comment under this title saying that if Yoon-seo and Jun-hee get punished, the parents should too because how did they not know their daughter was suffering. Any excuse they came up with and be applied to Yoon-seo and Junhee as well. However, perhaps the parents are so filled with misery and anguish by the ir beloved daughter's death, that they cannot not see things clearly. I think adding how Se euns life at home with her parent's perspective would have been a better touch to see how their judgements are clouded.

There were also some unanswered questions about how the kids even got there lol. But, I'm just going to think some stories are better left unanswered, as answering them could drag out the story.

Acting:
In my opinion, for the actors who can be considered "unknown," they really did a good job. I really want to applaud the female lead. Her cries of emotion were so gripping and she really tuned into her character. Maybe because she's older now but her acting was so good I didn't even recognize she was from racket boys. It was also nice seeing the actress who played jung-won and comparing it to her stellar performance in penthouse as the famous Eun-byeol.

Music:

The music was fitting, nothing memorable.


Overall, I'd maybe re watch to see any missed clues, but this is a nice bingeable thriller.

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Screaming, crying, throwing up

I’m not okay, I will not be okay for a long time. This was the most beautiful thing that I have ever watched and to be honest I don’t think I have enough of a way with words to describe just how amazing Twinkling Watermelon is. I was a long-time stan of Thirty but Seventeen and never thought I would find a Kdrama that could even hold a candle to my favorite drama of all time, but somehow Twinkling Watermelon completely dethroned Thirty but Seventeen in a short, short amount of time. In a way, I’m a little annoyed that my #1 Kdrama is, like, everyone and their mother’s favorite kdrama, since as I’m writing this review, it’s the top rated Kdrama on MDL with a whopping 9.2 rating (oh my god). Genuinely though, it’s 10000000% worth the hype and I honestly cannot even begin to explain how wonderfully entertaining, heartwarming, and marvelously written this drama is.
For a drama with such a young cast, I was first and foremost completely taken aback by the quality of acting, since I don’t often see this type of skill in similar youth kdramas. Granted, there was a bit of overacting on the ML’s part but it’s very rare and honestly just adds to the comedy so I can let it slide. The storyline itself very much reminds me of that iceberg meme where what you see on the surface is quite simplified and shallow but as you continue watching, the storyline just unravels before you and you end up making connections you hadn’t even imagined you’d be making. This was genuinely such a fun ride and I will definitely be coming back to this one as soon as I can recover from the first watch ahaha.
I could honestly write paragraphs and paragraphs about this but I’m kind of put into this weird paralysis state where I have so many things to say that I just don’t know what to say at all, so I will just leave this here: Literally whatever you’re thinking this drama is going to be, or whatever expectations you have, leave them behind and just watch the drama for what it is, because while it will likely be so different from what you were expecting, it will probably be far better as well.

PS this is coming from someone who has watched her fair share of kdramas and has become immensely picky with what she watches and enjoys (sadly lol)

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Very shiny but without much charm

Honestly, I think 7.5 might be too generous?? idk
I genuinely had so many hopes for this drama. I’m a big fan of PEB and was holding my damn breath until this drama would be released because it sounded soo interesting. Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, this drama ended up giving too much screen time to subplots that I did not care about whatsoever (RJ shares, Ran Joo’s mother, and most of all the stupid abusive dad storyline) and not nearly enough to the parts that actually mattered and most of us came here for (helloooooooooo? romance? literally where).
This is a drama that genuinely had so much potential and had all the right tools to become successful, but it completely fumbled the execution and left me feeling quite disappointed. Couple of upsides: love love LOVE the SML, honestly he had more chemistry with PEB than CJH and was honestly just the best boy all around. So devoted to Seo Mok Ha from the very beginning, was literally fantasizing about being her childhood first love to have an excuse to be with her like cmon the flag doesn’t get any greener than that. Music was simply amazing, no doubt about that. My Spotify playlists will be blessed with many new additions. Park Eun Bin slayed as always, I will always watch her in anything and everything.
Now for biggest pet peeves: Although I enjoyed the character development of the ML, they just didn’t give him enough time to develop as an individual and then as a love interest for Seo Mok Ha, they just kind of slapped them together at the end and called it love (even when we get past how insta-lovey their childhood story was). Because of this the chemistry was just so off and I couldn’t root for the main couple since they gave them nothing to work with besides a crush from 15 years ago. Like I said before, the inclusion of many uninteresting (to me) plotlines made the plot drag so much and genuinely just made for a very dull viewing experience. I quite frankly didn’t come here to watch a batshit crazy police officer chase his family across all of Korea, I came to watch Park Eun Bin become a singer and maybe fall in love, so the fact that such a large portion of the story was focused on stalker daddy disappointed me pretty immensely.
All in all, not a terrible drama and may be a worthwhile watch, just maybe not for me. Blame my sky-high expectations or the marketing, but this drama just didn’t live up to what I had imagined in my head. If you must, at least stay for Park Eun Bin’s music. Or find the Spotify playlist, that works too lol.

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