Reviews

An all time favorite

This is seriously my favorite kdrama of all time. I've rewatched it multiple times even tho it's pretty long lol... I wasn't a big fan of historical dramas before but this definitely changed my mind!

I felt a lot of emotions during this. I laughed a lot but I also cried my eyes out lol... Idk how they did this honestly. The comedy was amazing and almost all the characters had funny moments. But then again, it was also very sad. My heart was genuinely hurting at some moments. It was definitely a roller coaster haha... It was the perfect mix between comedy and drama and that's a big reason why I love it so much.

I never felt bored while watching this even tho I get bored easily and often watch dramas at 2x speed haha... This was a longer kdrama but it didn't feel like it. I kinda wished it had more eps lol (that might've been too much tho).

The cast in this is incredible and I became a fan of almost all of them after watching this. I knew Shin Hyesun was a good actor before but she's truly an incredible actor. I became a big fan after this. I was really surprised by Kim Junghyun since I haven't seen him in a lot of dramas. He was amazing! I was also really happy to see Na Inwoo in this since I really like him!

I liked a lot of the characters, almost all of them. Obviously, many of them made mistakes and I disliked them at the beginning but they made up for it and I liked most of them at the end. I also liked how all of them were relevant to the actual story and weren't "forgotten".

The only thing I didn't LOVE was the ending. It was very bittersweet. I don't mind it that much though!

(I think I'll actually go rewatch it again now hahah)

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Varan was a patchwork monster of a movie. Production was originally for a 3-part co-produced limited television series. When the American production company involved fell apart, Toho decided to make it into a feature movie. With a shoestring budget, filmed in black and white for television (no color sets yet!), and utilizing stock Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again! footage, Varan struggled to cut an identity of his own.

Siberian butterflies are discovered in a remote Japanese mountain village which causes a research professor to send two of his scholars to investigate. What they find is something far bigger. When they don’t return, a new team is dispatched. The team berates the local villagers who worship the mountain god Baradagi, calling them superstitious. Before the village priest can say, “don’t get so cocky city boy,” the superstition comes to life and begins terrorizing the team and villagers. The monster dubbed Varan flies off, meaning Tokyo may once again be in the sights of a cranky Kaiju.

Varan had real potential. Like Triphibious, he could walk on land, live under the water, and fly in the air. The costume was cool and Nakajima Haruo who brought many a Kaiju to life, including Gojira, knew how to make a monster movie. His assistant, Tezuka Katsumi, was also given credit. The story let the big monster down, with Varan often treading water or sitting on the bottom of the bay which didn’t feel very threatening. More time was given to the ships, planes, and tanks than Varan. Many of those scenes were from Godzilla Raids Again, especially the tanks at the airport firefight. The editing wasn’t as seamless as you would expect from a Honda movie but given the circumstances, he did the best with what he had. Ifukube Akira wrote the music and it had the commanding monster marches he was known for. The writers did come up with a creative way to dispatch the One Movie Wonder though it’s said Nakajima suffered burns from it during the filming.

This is where I need to bring up the American version. It features Myron Healey and only uses 15 minutes of the original film with a different story about desalinization attached. You might find it billed as Varan the Unbelievable.

Varan felt too much like a re-tread of Gojira and this Kaiju needed his own unique story. Big G can do many things but he can’t fly, okay only that one time. For fans of guys in rubber suits Kaiju films, it is one to check out to see what Honda Ishiro could do when handed a mess of movie ingredients. As always, I grade these old niche movies on a curve.

10/13/23

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It is a suspenseful spy drama with many twists and an open-ended ending.

Spy Game is a spy drama that turns real-life spies through an online game where the organization crime recruits players and turns them into real spies.

The Synopsis: In Jinhai, China, a spy game has become popular among young people. As it turns out, the game was developed by an overseas intelligence organization known as "Night Fog." They are using players to engage in espionage activities without their knowledge and seizing the opportunity to cultivate spies among them. The evil seeds of the game have been spreading silently throughout the city. At this time, Gao Tian Yang, the head of reconnaissance at Jinhai National Security Bureau, works with intelligence officer Wu Xi to dive deep into the game as they investigate a case surrounding leaked laboratory secrets. During their investigation, the two rescue Huang Zi Cheng from a conspiracy, who is like a little brother to Gao Tian Yang, and in turn, he becomes their informant thanks to his rich experience in the spy game.

It has a good start and supporting casts like Li Yi Tong, Wei Da Xun, Wang Li Kun, Tony Yang, Wang Yang, etc.; it is an interesting story with decent acting from lead actors/actresses and supporting cast, with interesting twists.

The only complaint I have so far is the synthesized voices that they use to distinguish the characters in the games vs. the real voice in the present time of the drama. It is watchable, and the ending is open for Spy Game 2 since it is open-ended. I give it a 7.5 rating.

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The kungfu fighting scenes are good, but I didn't like the plot. I am dropping it.

Tiger and Crane is a historical/costume drama about young people fighting demons.

The Synopsis: This tells the story of a group of teenagers who, for the sake of their dreams, love, and responsibility, trudge through the gloom of the chaotic world to save the world. The optimistic and cheerful mountain orphan Huzi accidentally swallows a red pearl, a treasure of Yang, and befriends the cold captain, a clean freak, Qi Xiao Xuan, a national demon master. The two young people with very different personalities are forced to go on the road together because of a red pearl, and they make friends with Zhao Xin Tong, Wang Yu Qian, and others.

Each other's differences attract them, and through some adventures, they become life-and-death friends when Qi Xiaoxuan is imprisoned to protect Huzi. To save Qi Xiaoxuan, Huzi, and his partners come together to participate in selecting the national imperial demon master. Still, they uncover the great conspiracy of the national imperial demon master and seek to find the truth about the human-demon war five hundred years ago.

The Kungfu fighting scenes in this drama have some funny moments. I think Jiang Long did a decent job, and I am watching this drama because I like Wang Yu Wen. I was not too fond of the character she played in this drama, and I believe she is better in modern drama than historical one.

Zhang Ling He is popular and has been in many dramas this year; however, I don't particularly like his acting. He is another one-dimensional actor with the same facial expression regardless of joyful or emotional/suspenseful scenes.

I watched 16 episodes already, and I am dropping it because I don't like the plot and am not interested in demons fighting. I give it a 5.0 rating.

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Love this drama, and the acting was fantastic. It is funny, edgy, and tear-jerky.

Destined with You is a funny and enjoyable Kdrama. I normally don't watch too much Kdrama because I don't like to read subtitles, but this one is quite funny, and I like Rowoon the actor. I first like him in the King's Affection.

The Synopsis: Lee Hong Jo is the lowest-grade civil servant. She always does her best at work, even though she suffers from many civil complaints. In her personal life, she is used to being alone. One day, she becomes the owner of an old wooden chest and the key to lift a curse from Jang Shin Yu.

Jang Shin Yu is a competent lawyer who is smart and good-looking. He is usually in the spotlight wherever he goes but suffers from an unexplained disease. His condition gets progressively worse. He is desperate to lift the curse that has run through his family for generations. A lawyer bound by a centuries-old curse becomes entangled with a civil servant who holds the key to his freedom — igniting an unexpected romance.

I love and enjoy this drama a lot, and Jo Bo Ah did a great job playing Lee Hong Jo, and her onscreen chemistry with Rowoon is also good. They did a phenomenal job, especially Rowoon. I gave it an 8.5 rating. Highly recommended, and the ending leaves a cliffhanger for possible season 2. The

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A bizarre sci-fi drama with some interesting special effects. Good acting and the rooster rock.

Parallel World is a weird ancient sci-fi drama produced out of Cdrama.

The Synopsis: A beautiful melon seller, Ye Liu Xi, and a shadow puppet performer, Chang Dong, join forces to venture deep into the desert. One seeks to unravel the mystery of her origins, while the other aims to retrieve the remains of his girlfriend and 17 others who perished under mysterious circumstances. As they encounter numerous anomalies in the uninhabited area, they are led to the weathered and supernatural Yumen Pass. They navigate between the Imperial Guards, Taoist Priests, and the Scorpion-Eyed creatures, unraveling the truth amidst various enigmas and gaining insights into true love through numerous life-and-death experiences. The answers seem within reach but are entangled in an even larger conspiracy. Will the truth and their love prevail?

The acting is good, especially the main CP, played by Bai Yu and Ni Ni. The flow of the story is bizarre as they travel into many dimensions of the parallel worlds. It is interesting to watch; however, I wouldn't say I like the production quality of the drama, where everything is blurred and blue when they travel into a parallel world. It is my biggest complaint about this drama.

The cinematography for this drama is quite good, but why blur the sandman's face? It looks distorted. It is okay, and I like the acting, but I am not sure I will watch this genre in the future. I gave it a 7.5 rating.

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20 EPISODES FULL OF FILLERS

I'd say that this drama can finish in 10-12 episodes instead of 20 episodes which they filled it with more twists, plots, confusion over feeling or self-realization, back-on-forth love (or not to love). The main idea of every damn 'Choi' family created such terrible connection that every 'Shin' had to bear hardship and sadness. Yeah...every plots went around about these 2 family names.

Shin Joon-young (Kim Woo-bin) and No-Eul (Bae Suzy) were high school classmates who were separated during their teenage years due to an ill-fated relationship, but later meet each other in adulthood. Shin Joon-young is now a top actor-singer (Jerk, rude, devilish gorgeous, rich, sickly, cold), while No-Eul (emotional, unlucky, beautiful, poor, pity, money minded) was a documentary producer. No-Eul had a tough childhood; her father died in a hit-and-run, prompting No-Eul to quit school and make a living for herself and her brother. Shin Joon-young, had his life planned out for him. His mother wanted him to become a prosecutor to follow in the footsteps of his estranged father, but an incident caused him to quit law school and become a singer-actor. His mother disowned him, couldn't understand why he quit law, she hated his celebrity status. She had him when she's 22 and impregnated by boyfriend Choi Hyeon-joon which he left her for another woman and became the source of suffering for all characters in this drama.

The two later reunite when No-Eul is tasked to film Shin Joon-young's documentary. She convinced the producer that she can obtain his consent for the documentary shoot. Initially, Joon-young gave No-Eul a hard time, but he eventually agrees to participate in the documentary. Working together didn't give them solitude, more like battle of heart, like one pulling rope tight and lose, never ending confusion because of circumstances. Joon-Young didn't give shit to anything (breaking contracts, change mind in last minute, rude, dismiss press), nothing to lose demeanor that made every person frustrated, but he had secrets that he wouldn't admit...he's terminally ill - a cancer that only allowed him 3 months to live...he's also guilty on action he caused car accident to No-Eul 5 years earlier....and he's the son of congressman Choi Hyeon-joon out of wedlock.

Okay, I think Kim Woo-Bin is gorgeous and he has the cold eyes good for a rude guy character while he also could be a charmer for his mom. Bae Suzy....she often delivered her dialog screaming on top of her lung! Not to mention her acting cute (ackh...) I don't understand where they supposedly madly in love each other but there wasn't warmness in relationship, she didn't hug him back, kiss on peck, no tender glances. I can shorten the episode by suggesting some changes in plots: give No-Eul compensation for the death of her father, move away and move on, be transparent (seems everybody loves to held grudges and keeping secrets). Of course, this is drama, the more melodramatic the longer episode becomes. At the end though, did Shin Joon-Yong died from his cancer? As No-Eul wishing to see him tomorrow? Possibly season 2? Hope not but I don't mind to see Kim Woo-BIn again. LOL

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Fine but Unnecessary

I have always been of one mind when it comes to remakes: unless you can make it better, don't touch it. I'll admit it's been a while since I watched the original Cube, but I remember liking it for what it was. It was definitely a film of its time that, in the right hands, could be done well. Unfortunately, the creators of this remake didn't have any new ideas for it; this is basically just the original "Cube" with an ethno-swapped perspective and nothing else. The best parts of the film are those you can watch in the original "Cube." There are moments when the film flirts with delving deeper, but it always pulls back before going too deep, keeping all the characters and emotions at a surface level. Overall, this is fine. If you have never seen the original, you will get more out of it. However, if you have seen the original, there isn't much need to see this one as well.

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Shallow as Glass

I can't think what the screenwriter was thinking when she put this one together. The story itself had potential, but somehow got lost in the very shallow characters portrayed in the drama. The premise of a man growing up with the psychological scars of a trauma in his childhood, then finding a love to heal him was intriguing. This writer certainly did not do that scenario any justice!

The performance by the actors wasn't the problem, as I quite liked the ML's character and his growth by the end of the series. I liked the FL's brother and his silly girlfriend; I liked the ML's assistant and the FL's 'assistant'. I even liked the ML's mother. The character played by the FL was the one that spoiled this for me. She looked like a schoolgirl in a group of adults and professionals. She was so shallow, self-centered and insensitive to everyone and everything around her. She was petulant and demanding and spoiled. The choice of clothing for her was very unfortunate - making her look like a child, again, playing in the midst of adults. It was almost cringeworthy to watch the love scenes because while the ML looked hot, she managed to look like a frightened child who didn't know what was happening to her. (I hate the fish-eye trope when these couples are kissing. It is so unattractive!)

Let's mention the 'bad guys', shall we? Talk about plot holes and loose ends. What happened to the evil 'uncle' who was trying to sabotage the company every which way? What happened the bitch girlfriend-wannabe after ML found out she had tampered with the papers and caused all the plagiarism backlash? And they never even found out that she had sabotaged the FL in the first place. Again - the screenwriter dropped that ball!

I suffered through the 30 episodes with the help of the fast-forward button and a morbid curiosity to see how Karma might be served to those who deserved it. I got no such satisfaction. I persevered to see if the romance factor of both the couples would compensate me for my time and effort. Very little satisfaction there, although I will admit to some sizzle between the second couple - and a little between the lead couple if I could get past her looking like a minor. Still, there was very little development of the romances per se - one minute they were enemies the next, they were kissing and voila! A couple!

OST wasn't all that - so I couldn't give many points for that. And I definitely wouldn't re-watch this.

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MY PERSONAL WEATHERMAN!!!

This show was probably the thing that kept me going in the week, knowing I can come home, relax, and watch this at the end of the week.

Is this show DEFINITELY a 10/10? No. Is it in my eyes? ABSOLUTELY!!!

There are many things that I LOVED, but there were certain things that I didn't like so much.

The ending was a bit confusing. Were they actually TOGETHER?

I always love Japanese BLs (RECOMMENDATIONS PLEASE!!) and usually never rate it lower than a 7-8. What was it about this show that made me enjoy it so much? THE CHEMISTRY!!!!

The chemistry between the leads is just outstanding, which lowkey made up for all the misunderstandings.

Some of the scenes were HOT!!! As in like, peeking through my fingers and giggling. THAT TYPE OF HOT!

If I were to give it a lower rating, the reason would be because of the misunderstandings.

The way they couldn't just talk it out infuriated me. A simple discussion would have made the relationship better and stronger. The fear of rejection shouldn't be there in my opinion. Segasaki had obvious feelings for Yoh, IF ONLY HE JUST FOLLOWED BODY LANGUAGE AND FACIAL EXPRESSIONS!!

Overall, this was an amazing JBL, and would definitely recommend. (especially people who like a bit of spicy scenes..) The chemistry is THERE!

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A GREAT SHORT DRAMA

Only 12 episodes all together. A realistic set up, less make-up and none beautification (great!), great flowing story, good acting for every actors. Setting in the 37th year of the Wan Li Time of the Ming Administration, there were progressive homicides in the region seat of Jiangnan District. The personalities of the dead were unique and inconsequential to one another but they had similarity; intention, message left in the dead bodies, all pointing to the fire burning accident to Lu family 20 years earlier. As a apprentice Qu San Geng (Bai YuFan) of his dead teacher Captain Leng, he was a bailiff who try to decoding the murder mystery of his teacher and other unrelated victims. With the help of his friends Gao Shi Cong (Liu YiTong), Feng Ke Zhui (Zhang Hao Wei), Leng Gui Er (Julia Xiang) Captain Leng's only daughter. They uncovered (figuratively) worm-box of 20 years old secret; one clue and one witness at a time, victim's dark pasts, the connection of victims to each other. Song Chen (Ning Li) was an upright well-respected official who became Qu SanGeng mentor, He's the County Judge who appointed by the Emperor because of the error judgement when he was much younger, so much tortures for wrong conviction, experience injustices, he became disable - his mind though still as bright as his younger-self, he's now uphold justice for other people.

Background of the crime
The sad story about 3 teenager best friends, because of the greed and anger 20 years ago that cause destructive motivation. Unlikely best friend were young Lu Zhi, Xiao Bao, Lu Bu Yao came from different social status background; Lu Zhi was the servant of Lu family, Lu Bu Yao was his young master, Xiao Bao was attendant for a brothel. The Lu elder humiliated and punished Lu Zhi that drove him to seek revenge and gained some money with the encouragement from Mr. Zhong the steward, with the help of other 4 helpers they killed the whole Lu family with poison and burned down the house. Lu Zhi as adopted son Of Lu elder claimed the wealth of Lu family and divided between them. After stay away and low, they came back to town as rich merchants and respected by people in town. Recently, they've been murdered of those individuals connected with devastating fire. Captain Leng, murdered for involvement in cold-closed case. Lin Si Niang murdered for where was all started, Dr. Cheng murdered for fake prescription poison all Lu's, Wang Chen the gambler murdered for killing the mother Lu and Lu baby girl, other 3 victims related to the accident. Although Qu SanGeng knew the identity of the culprits, he made the choice to pick one of 2 devious killers to take on his revenge .

The setting was same location as 'Under Microscope' or 'Pledge of Allegiance' so for those who love those 2 dramas, we're getting the same vibes - same genre with different plots.

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Leaves a lot to be desired

Not sure how to feel about this drama. I didn't think it was THAT bad. I mean, it was watchable. The writing was just insane, the plot just went all over the place and the last half felt like it turned into a completely different drama. It was like the writer completely forgot about the curse and fantasy plotline, just dropped it (literally had the characters say several times "it doesn't matter if the curse was real or not" with no real closure whatsoever) and turned it into a run of the mill past life connection romance. The OST is quite honestly one of the worst I've ever heard in a drama.

Rowoon impressed me, at first I thought his acting was starting out pretty stiff but then in the last half his acting became really good...again, not sure what the change in the middle of this drama was about. Either way he has a new fan.

The FL was annoying as heck, and I'm sick of the past life connection trend in dramas already. But the makeout scenes toward the end were super hot and their chemistry was good, I think mostly thanks to Rowoon.

Overall not really one I'd recommend but it had potential.

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Satisfying but has some hiccups

There are some pacing and story issues, but overall this was a pretty satisfying watch — as expected, the Flipped trope is great.

I might be one of the few people who didn't get too annoyed with the first six episodes. Sure, Khai was kinda terrible and it was a lot of repetitive crying from Third, but you could feel the story building towards Third's breaking point and the reversal of roles, and that was good enough. In fact, I think the two-part style works really well, with the first half being from Third's perspective and the second half being from Khai's.

With that being said, I still think there were some weird pacing issues. While I liked the two-part style itself, the transition between them was a little fast, and I also do think the back-end of both sections were a little dragged out, before just jumping to the next plot too fast. There's not really a strong main plot going on behind the romance either, so I don't get a really good sense of how much time is passing.

I also didn't care about some of the side plots, particularly Bone's. Two's story got better over time and it definitely paid off at the end, especially because he was such a good character even on his own.

The bromance throughout the show was actually one of its strengths. Some of the best moments came when characters were talking to each other about their struggles and heartbreaks and I wish we'd seen more of it, because I often felt like characters were dealing with issues in silos.

As someone who rates with my brain, 6.5 is what I would consider average, but I do have a soft spot for this show and for what it might bring to any viewers who've ever been trapped in unrequited love. And all the film references also made my movie buff heart very happy.

And finally, as a little heads up I also do want to mention that there are some nonconsensual kisses in here, in case anyone reading doesn't want to see that.

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Cute Crush

Really liked it...but I'm not sure why! Imagine having such a crush that you don't know what to do with yourself or how to behave when you see that person. Imagine realising that it somehow crept up on you!

It was a lovely short drama.

What I liked: Yinwar. I've only seen them in music videos and a trailer (a mini drama itself!) for their concert. I love War's (who played Best) acting; his expressions are great. I liked Best's friends - nicely portrayed as true friends who hugged and tried to cheer up their friend when he was down. There were so many things I thought were sweet.
What I didn't like: not overly fond of school dramas, but it was sweet

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