Reviews

Unique and original story, with some missing plots but supported by great casting!

It's a unique and original story but with some missing plots here and there. The storyline goes up and down throughout all the episodes although the happy ending is quite warming.

The casting is great, and the acting performance of all the actors, especially the supporting ones, is awesome. The characters I like are the ML's mother, Fish the transgender (he can be very handsome and beautiful lol), and the part-timer.

And last but not least, I love the little girl Yul with all my heart -- I am quite sensitive to topics related to child abuse and my heart breaks when I see the scars and wounds on her body when the ML's mother changed her clothes. It should be quite a challenge for the young actress to portray such a heavy role and she's doing it very well.

As I said earlier, the happy ending is heartwarming, although I hope that the ML and the FL policewoman get married and adopt Yul -- instead of Yul going back to Vietnam to live with her paternal grandmother as implied during the video call at the end.

Overall - it's quite an entertaining drama, a mix of comedy and mystery genres. It is quite recommended to watch.

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Let him cook!

Whew! What a ride!!

I feel high on andrenaline watching this drama. The story, pacing and main good characters were well done and written.

For most of the drama, Jian dissapointed me as the main lead of the show. I felt her abilities lacking giving the upbringing she had. I don't expect her to be the most badass fighter or cold killer immediately, but i was expecting her to be a little bit more street smart/hard whereas she came across as being soft (though she definitely had moments where she used her brain), which was a letdown after seeing how her uncle brought her up, the various training she was fortunate to get, and the experiences she's been through from a young age. Aside from her, every other character was great. Minhye - bestest most badass girl ever, Pasin - coolest muay thai soldier, Brother - adorable but highly capable computer genius, Honda - Mother! Loyal, Warmest heart ever, and last but not least Jinman - if only he was my real life uncle gahh.

In terms of the villains, I actually enjoyed the whole setup of it all! I absolutely loved seeing the backstory on why they were so against Jinman and hell bent on coming for him. Although their reasonings for doing so were frustratingly hypocritical!

I hope a Season 2 is in works because I definitely will be interested in seeing a sequel that focuses on Jinman's point of view!

Overall, this was a highly entertaining and to-the-point short thriller drama.

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Must watch!

Wonderful World is a must watch! From the first episode, with its opening scene showing Cha Eunwoo having a stare down with Kim Namjoo and drives his car seemingly towards her, the whole scene was just so impactful, with both their eye-acting and facial expressions carrying the scene to perfection; that it already gripped me and sparked my attachment to this drama. It got a hold on me from the get-go, resulting in wanting to stay and uncover the story and unravel its mystery. The excellence in acting and the fast pace of the story kept me engaged, with much curiosity on how the gripping drama will progress. Veteran actress Kim Namjoo is Queen as expected, with her excellent, amazing drama chops, making the audience feel for her tragedy with shared tears and broken hearts. The 2nd episode came around, and Cha Eunwoo's appearance was again so impactful, with him showing a different side of him as an actor, with his masculine, rough, tough, strong and powerful presence, and even without much lines to deliver, his eye-acting, face/body acting, his aura, can't help but capture his audience's attention. I for one was captivated by Cha Eunwoo, and will surely see this drama through; in fact I can't wait for the next episodes where for sure, the main leads, KNJ and CEW will further grip my interest and my kdrama heart. In a nutshell, Wonderful World is surely wonderful!

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honestly speaking,

i expected more from this drama. originally, i picked it up a few years ago, & ended up dropping it after a few episodes. on top of that, i wrote a horrible short review, & i’m thinking that i should’ve just listened to my gut.

— nonetheless, a few friends recommended this to me again & told me that i desperately needed to give it another go—so i did. the drama starts off promisingly, and everything’s just perfect on the cliché scale, until they come crashing down even in that department. the main story becomes so complicated & bizzare in the middle of the show, which had me seeking some entertainment in the second leads, whose storyline i ended up finding even worse. not only does it not add to the main couple in any way, shape, or form—the people involved in this triangle are HORRIBLE! from ji-na to ji-uk & all the way to bland, friendly hyun-gyu. i thought that maybe it would be cute seeing two lovers reunite after a rocky goodbye, but instead i got this really weird narration of a girl being passed between siblings. kinda sickening?
— but nonetheless, back to the main story. sure, it was complicated but i also didn’t feel the chemistry at all. the only thing that made this drama a complete tearjerker & a sobfest was dong-kyung’s relationship with her family, & her tragic back-story. nothing about this modern, new love with myul mang had some appeal. the writer’s got lazy (obviously), & stopped with his proper development—which is why we got the result we did. also, the story lacks in the romance department soooo much, but i decided to look over that for the sake of peace.

— my last penny would be the fact that i’d preferred this to be a sad ending. it would really send the message across more accurately, & it would cause heavier reactions. the happy ending that we got was so rushed & …lazy. almost stupid. there was absolutely zero drama effects in this k-drama.
— waste your time if you wish, seo in-guk has a really nice face to look at. and, this role suits him a lot. i wish they didn’t butcher the whole character.

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UNDENIABLY ONE OF THE BEST DRAMAS THIS YEAR!

This drama is told in a way that's emotionally captivating with a mixture of mystery and suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat so it pretty much gives off Melo mystery vibes.

This drama just has something about it that Iam sure to remember for the longest of times...it just reminded me of Melo mystery dramas from back then, there was something delicate and brilliant about it that Iam yet to explain.

So this drama is about this woman who loses her child injustly and with a fit of rage she makes a decision to take revenge on the perpetrator....and years later she crosses paths with this young mysterious man who seems to have a close connection to that perpetrator.....

The drama is written to be melodramatic but also has a glimpse of suspense and mystery... despite the plot twists coming off as predictable I love how they are twisted to make one doubt their own predictions...the story telling is emotionally captivating in a way that it takes you on this roller coaster of emotions, happiness sorrow anger you are going to feel it all through the story telling...it adds to being brilliantly written in a way that the writer makes it not fast paced and not slow paced but rather normally paced enough for you to sovour every moment of it in addition to being connected to the story itself.

The acting is incredible by that I mean it's the kind of realistic acting thats going to make you feel all the emotions the characters are feeling...it's the kind of acting thats really emotionally captivating a Powerful....Kim Namjoo is a veteran actress and despite this being the first time seeing her I can tell that she's an amazing actress, she just has the ability to draw you in with her acting..she has this powerful and graceful range to her acting thats Actually incredible.

Cha Eun woo to be honest set the bar high for him self in this drama and delivered.. considering his character being mysterious and hidden most of his emotions had to be potrayed through his eyes and body language and he managed to do it flawlessly..I loved his subtle yet impactful acting range.

The other main characters also did an incredible job to be honest every one in this drama contributed to the acting department of it...the amazing acting was one of this dramas biggest strengths!

The characterisation was amazing too, I love how the characters each was given depth and complexity, they all had personality and it all contributed to the charm of the series...I also love the mystery surrounding the male lead in the first Episodes of the story it really made his character intruiging and also made me curious about him other than that I loved the morally grey setting for the characters that made them flawed and realistic....

The direction and cinematography and osts was also something I want to comment about in this drama....I could tell that the director paid attention to the details the cinematography reflecting the characters emotions and the osts being hauntingly beautiful was such a brilliant charm to add to the already amazing drama.

This drama had been a ride, a roller coaster of emotions, a journey of pain and sorrow, I love how each episode felt like a movie...the amazing story telling and acting and characterisation...each contributed to the beauty of the series....

Do I recommend this ?

ABSOLUTELY! It's heavy but it's worth every bit of your time.

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"One mistake can lead to irreversible regret"

The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon was a tough film to rate and harder to review. The film showed how different people react when death stares them in the eye. Do you attempt to mend your ways or seek a lasting legacy no matter how reprehensible?

Chen Kui Lin aka the Kuilin Kid made a name for himself by taking out not one, but two mob bosses. While lying low he discovers from a pharmacist who treats gangsters that he has stage 4 lung cancer. She works to convince him to do the right thing and turn himself in. After praying to General Guan and tossing the divination sticks nine times he goes to the police station to do just that. Problem being that an armored car had turned over and people were lined up to turn in the money they’d pilfered. While waiting he sees a wanted poster with the top three fugitives. He was ranked #3. At that moment he determines to take out the top two to improve his legacy.

The first half of the film had numerous brutal, no holds barred fights between Kui Lin and the cop Chen Hui and between Kui Lin and Hongkie. Hongkie was vile, a rapist, and deadly. No tears shed for anything bad happening to him. The second half of the film delved into the spiritual side and repentance. Even a killer like Kui Lin could grasp at the thread of hope. At least before the violence erupted into new disturbing levels.

I’ve never been an Ethan Juan fan but I have to admit he did an admirable job as the killer who could murder people easily but could also be quite affable and charming. He rescued at least two people and tried to save a third. That didn’t mean he was a good guy and it would be wrong to idolize him. His last violent act disturbed me greatly and threw me into a moral quandary attempting to understand his reasoning.* The final twist wasn’t much of a twist and in the end, it didn’t matter, at least to Kui Lin.

The Pig, the Snake, and the Pigeon had high production values and well shot fight scenes. The acting was quite good and Ethan Juan made it hard to not feel some empathy for his character. The story could be uneven and the final third of the film took too long to resolve. Far from glorifying the gangster lifestyle, it showed that three evils no matter how fair or repugnant they might appear to be needed to be vanquished. Interestingly, only one facing death had the courage to do something unorthodox to rid society of the animalistic ills.

3 March 2024


***********Spoiler below**********
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The only way I could resolve the massacre at the cult was that after all the evil they had done including murder and destroying at least one child’s future, he thought they would continue their wicked ways . Many of the people in the cult who did not heed his warning knew it was a scam and were enforcers and the others who stayed behind were either in on it or so brainwashed that would continue to drive people to suicide or murder when ordered. The ambiguity of the ones left behind who were killed was very distressing to me and why I didn’t rate this film higher.
In the end, Kui Lin paid for his crimes and the pharmacist who got her three birds, actually a whole flock, with one stone was also facing a painful death herself.

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Disappointing

Another series that is disappointing and stupid especially in the last few eps.

I was enjoying the show for the most part b/c the story was interesting to me. It's not my typical genre, but I thought the synopsis was good. The series ended up being nothing like I thought the synopsis would be. What I wanted was a love story between a demon and human but what I got was a story about bickering chaebols; one of which was extremely awful who brutalized ***********. Also, got some past life story that was completely unnecessary.

What I did like was the cast; Very good and I like Kim You Jung and this was my first series with Song Kang. I like him in this plus anyone who reads my reviews know pretty boys are my jam. I thought he and the FL looked great togther. I loved the character of Ms. Shin. Actress Seo Jung Yeon nailed the role as FL secretary.

The only character I sympathized with was Noh Do Kyung. The character broke my heart. Actor Kang Seung Ho was brilliant as someone slowly losing his mind and being tormented by someone who should have loved him.

3/4/24

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A Realistic Romance

9.5/10
This cdrama was realistic for me as not all love stories aren't perfect or about passionate kisses but about the geniune care between the two and their feelings towards each other.
The ML potrayed this perfectly, what really got me cracked up was that the second couple got married first?
The ML's sister was annoying but that's her character she's just over-protective over her bro and feels like she needs to be their for him more, gradually she gets less annoying?
Thats why I gave it a 9.5/10?
Plus they had a tragic past, I think the hate needs to stop towards her, all characters has their flaws and theirs nothing wrong with that.
This deserves higher than a 7.9, the cooking in this was so tempting and the growth of all the characters was amazing,
Defo worth a watch if you want to watch something with more realism.
You can also find all episodes available at kissasian.fm, dramacool. Kisskh.co and myasiantv

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One bad apple…

Wow, I was not expecting this from GMMTV.
The quality was up to their typical standards but the script! Awful! It started out cute but then the main couple spent the rest of the series fighting with each other. There was misunderstanding after misunderstanding!
And neither one would talk. Ugh. Pawin was just depressing. When they finally got together there was zero chemistry and almost cringey to see them together.

The side couples were great. And I liked all the side stories. But that main story was just boring and depressing. I thought Marc’s acting was good and he did a great job with the storyline about his mother. I just really didn’t like Pawin. But looks like he may be out of a job anyway.

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Growing Pains. Worlds that cannot be reconciled. Standards that cannot be met.

This film has my heart. The narrative moves with a tone as fragile as lies, as delicate as first love, as fleeting as childhood. It also carries a heaviness that cannot be understated; a cold salty somberness that punches straight through you.

“If you have forgotten how to be a child you cannot teach children.” - Austin O'Malley

Though this is not a movie about adults forgetting to be childlike, but rather adults forgetting what it is like to live in the world of a child. Children make law out of adult’s black and white teachings. They know what’s wrong but they don’t know why. They know what’s right, but they don’t know how. That’s why what's rational for an adult and what’s rational for a child will never be the same. This movie is set in that gap. The space between adult and child. Despite this, this is in no way a story about teenagers or the bridge between these two worlds; in fact, the stark distinction between the methodologies of adults and children is a key feature of the film.

Can we judge the grown-ups from seeing things from within the established societal standards? I am adult enough to know that the conclusions they reached aren’t far from what I would have guessed.

Can we judge the children for lashing out when they aren’t able to articulate themselves within these standards? Can we blame a child for deviating from an expected emotional reaction? I am child enough to understand what it feels like to stumble through the dichotomy of these two worlds.

This film holds so much wisdom. Behind all of the lies, stands universal truths. There is no love perfect enough to protect the ones we love against the evils of the world. There is no evil terrible enough to conceal the glimpses of good. There is no standard that can perfectly be met. There is no monster. There is right and wrong and in between. And cats and pigs and happiness.

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