Reviews

Growing Season (2020) - I just discovered a clip in facebook about this drama and I got curious. I watched this drama on youtube and it's pretty short so I finished rather early that what is usual. I am quite surprised that it talks about mature concepts compare to what playlist global offers before. There are parts that I understand especially with the three main characters story that is shown. I like the flow and all, and of course the three female leads.

Though I find them awkward in acting, most of them are fairly new to my eyes, I think they are not as much well known as I haven't seen them much on the korean drama scene/world. Still I tolerated the awkward acting, it's fine in the long run.

I would recommend this as a past time drama with a mature concept.

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move on, heals, moti

move on, heals, moti
I got from that drama.
i got don't think. feel..
and then some words are healing for me.
thanks for healing me, move on and moti.

I thinking past broken relationship
and lost my life.
bad habbit is thinking, thinking is a problem
and then
now I don't think past broken relationship,
don't worry for my life, for my future
for my lost everything blah blah blah.

but I do one thing. just feel.
feel... but don't think!
finally I found my way and
running on my track.
keep going.

hey friends..
move on, you can do it and
find your heals, find your moti.
our heart are look like plants.
so.. takecare your heart, your soul
find your way and keep going.

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XX (2020) - this drama is so satisfying to watch. One of the dramas that at first it's not appealing nor engaging for me as a watcher, but as it goes it really has a nice story to tell.

I like that the story revolves around friendship which is the main appeal of the drama. There is romance into it but I think the friendship between the female leads carried the whole drama. The drama talks about friendship that was strained which I like a lot since it's not much seen on korean dramas.

I love the female leads. The actresses really did great in their respective roles as well. They are both beautiful, hilarious, really great.

It's short but satisfying to watch. I would recommend it for sure.

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intense & unrelenting

battered and bloody is the heart in Bloodhounds, a truly shocking and grisly crime thriller that never lets up. throats and Achilles tendons are slashed, backs are broken, skin is pierced by knives and arrows, literal salt rubbed into wounds, just an unrelenting display of blood splattered cruelty and violence.

but there is still a heart buried underneath so much carnage. this couldn't possibly be a success if not. it would just be male aggression, a bleak tale of predation and power with no hope in sight. but luckily it has two goobers who are also highly skilled boxers just trying to do good.

I would not watch this again!

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cliched plot with cute moments

Overall: this series has a few cliches which I really struggle with hence my rating. 8 episodes about 25 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI.

Content Warnings: non con kiss, non con touching, stalking, vomiting, past death, grief

What I Liked
- cooking
- cute moments
- remembering the same event differently in ep 2
- being upfront in the past to that woman who liked him
- Yoon Seo Bin's cameo in ep 5 & 8
- (neutral) comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- the non con
- many cliches/nonsense things such as: the "plan"/approach, poor communication, that conflict in ep 7/8, a restaurant owner with a lot of free time, the "I can explain" but refusing an explanation
- the work scenes dragged

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if the plot confuses you Just watch the ORIGINAL

Honesty as a fan of original version I can't review this drama without prejudice.
It has been a year after I heard about Korean remake version of Someday or one day. I am excited and looking forward to watching it. But after I finished watching episode 1, I wasn't sure if this was a drama I really wanted to watch.

Of course, in terms of production costs, the Korean version is higher than the original version.
Whether it's the cinematography, the background, the camera angle, everything looks beautiful, but I think it looks like there's too much filtering applied to it and it doesn't look natural.
I know it's normal for Korean dramas to have bright beautiful backgrounds. But I think it doesn't really fit with this drama.

Since it is a remake version so I cannot help but compare to the original version there are many things that I disappointed.

1. Many scenes was cut off
Actually, a lot of scenes at the beginning of this drama show how heartbroken and upset Female lead (Huang Yu Xuan) is after lost her boyfriend in a plane crashed. And why, after two years, she still cannot move on. Some people might think that it was slow and boring scenes but I think it is very important scenes to build up the emotion into the characters.
That's why I didn't feel that emotion from Han Jun-hee.

2. OST
Originally the biggest impact of this drama is OST.
Seo Ji-won's Gather my tears doesn't have strong impact comparing to Wu Bai's Last Dance.

3. Friendship between 3 main characters
Korean version seems to show more of a high school love triangle than a friendship.
Also, they gave less air-screen time for Jung In-gyu so we didn't see the point of view of him that much.

4. The Character's switch
As you know, both the male and female leads must act in different ages and roles.
They have to act in roles between the ages of 10s-40s.
Jeon Yeo-been : Present Han Jun-hee, Young Han Jun-hee, Kwon Min-ju, Han Jun-hee in Kwon Min-ju's body, Kwon Min-ju act like Han Jun-Hee
Ahn Hyo-seop : Nam Si-heon's in Koo Yeon-jun's body, Real Koo Yeon-jun, High School Nam Si-heon, Old Nam Si-heon

But actually I didn't see the difference. Their acting skills aren't bad. But he just doesn't fit the character.

5. The Ending
In my opinion, it's not memorable ending.

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We should stick with JoongDunk's YouTube compilations at this point...

Can we stop with these plots that starts with one of the leads pursuing a girl that he has NO connection with? Like, is so overused and boring, it doesn't add ANYTHING useful and interesting to the characters depths and story. But even with that, the beginning was the most interesting and fun part with Joke pursing Zo. Most parts were skippable, and the show was too long for what they had.

The acting was not terrible but not good enough to save it. I could see Dunk falling behind sometimes and losing some opportunities when it comes to showcasing Zo's emotions, and Joong was actually fine and had some really beautiful moments. Aou and Boom didn't have many interesting moments, but I really enjoyed this pairing, and I actually wanted to see more of them. Between other support characters, Nita (Jamie) and Pat (Louis) had more impact in the story, and I was particularly happy seeing Jamie in a completely different role right after Home School.

So that's it, if you want to watch just for JoongDunk, as I said in the headline, you should stick with the YouTube compilations, they are far more entertaining.

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Bodyguard vs heiress vs evil characters= 'steamy' romance?!

The main premise of this 30 episode short series is that a rich temporarily blinded heiress is being aided by a new bodyguard. The bodyguard conveniently happens to be extremely good looking, and takes off his shirt every chance he gets (to be fair, he's got one of the nicest bodies in chinese dramas!). The heiress, however, has a fiance ... who is quickly revealed to have a secret.
Of course the heiress and the bodyguard fall in love, but there's more to come, as there as well there are some secrets!

The story had an average plot with enough details for the 30 10-minute episodes. I was not bored and I could follow the story's pace. The show did contain a LOT of tropes: pushing each other away in order to help the other, the walking in the rain umbrella thing, the wounded warrior who needs his chest wound tended, etc.

There was some overacting from all actors eventually, even though they also had a chance to show they could act well. I think in some of the buildings they were rushed through the filming, maybe due to time constraints, as the same background usually comes with a bit of overacting.

As usual, these short dramas don't have enough character depth (usually, good remains good and evil remains evil with little change), but there is some shifting of roles throughout, keeping me entertained.

It's also more than enough to show that this main couple deserves their own full-length series.

Although some of the lines made me cringe and others made me laugh out loud due to the ridiculousness, I was hooked until the end.

Watch this if you don't mind an average plot if the chemistry between the lead couple is AMAZING, and they kiss a lot and deeply (albeit still chaste enough to be for teens). They both seem like good kissers, basically, but especially HE knows what he's doing. He reminds me of a mixture of Kim Seon Ho and Ji ChangWook.

They must have had an intimacy consultant on set, as both of them seemed very comfortable with each other during intimate scenes, and I noticed there was a pillow or blanket between their groin areas when he was lying on top of her and kissing her at length. That's a sign of good actor guidance to me, and respect for each other's bodies.

Lastly, I'll follow both these young actors as they both have the physical attributes and the acting skills to make it big if given the chance. I'm personally rooting for them, separate or together.

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"Never have I witnessed the beauty of the world"

Zhang Yi Mou is renowned for his use of brilliant colors and vibrant scenery. In Shadow he showed he could strip it all away and lay bare the story in a gray and white world. The story that seems simplistic at first peels away layer after layer revealing desire, betrayal, and greed.

Two kingdoms have signed a peace treaty but only the Yans have control of the great walled city of Jing. The Pei clan yearns to reclaim Jing City against the wishes of their king who wants to keep the peace at all costs even if it means wedding his sister to the Yan heir. The Pei Commander has challenged General Yang to a duel, one he doesn't believe he can win with the winner claiming the city for his clan. The Pei king strips the Commander of his rank for putting the peace at risk, reducing him to a commoner. Early on it is revealed that the Commander is only a shadow named Jing. The real Commander stays tucked away in an underground cave slowly dying from a wound rendered by the Yang general. Soon the characters set up the play they wanted, never knowing if they were the puppet master or puppet.

Shadow's dark underlying mood reminded me of an emotional mash-up of Kurosawa's Kagemusha and Throne of Blood. Jing had grown up in the darkness and even in the light was someone else's shadow. Aside from the Commander's wife, was there something else he desired? The Commander (like a good Kurosawa character) had gone nearly mad trapped below ground scheming and planning. Deng Chao played both characters so well I could scarcely tell they were the same person. Madam was torn between her loyalty to her husband and her feelings for Jing. Other than his longing for Pei to reclaim Jing City, Capt. Tian's loyalty was murky at best. Was Pei's king short-sighted or playing the long game? Characters with the greatest conceit would pay the greatest price. Zhang Yi Mou took his time revealing the hidden truths beneath the characters' facades.

Zhang may have stripped his palette of bright colors but the film was no less stylistic. Though the film at first glance appeared monochromatic, he judiciously used color---patches of green on the hills, the luminous glow of skin, the golden heat from candles, warm brown tones in the Yin and Yang and of course the crimson flow of blood pooling in the rain. His use of color and architecture were, as always, a wonder.

Umbrellas are no stranger to kung fu movies. Zhang, however, took them to new heights. One scene with the army sliding down the cobblestone street doubly armed may have defied gravity but not wuxia magic. The fights were brutal and deadly. Ku Huen Chiu has an impressive track record as a martial arts director and his work here was exemplary. One fight managed to combine dangerous combat into an erotic dance. Feminine moves were created to combat masculine ones to great effect. A surprise knife or sword to the neck always works, too. The great battle accompanied by a zither duet was reminiscent of Hero and just as effective.

The climax dragged on as the endgames became apparent and who would ultimately come out on top was left up to the viewer to decide. Shadow was at its heart a martial arts film complete with betrayals, schemes, lust, and revenge served on a blood-soaked platter. Few directors could create a more aesthetically pleasing film or take an old genre and make it feel new. Zhang Yi Mou is one of my favorite directors for being able to do all that and more. Shadow's breathtaking use of color and creative cinematography was the perfect setting for the ancient story of man's pyrrhic need for power.

9/26/23

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Good acting but lacks real interesting story.

Sadly this is boring and I hate how they make it only look like a one-sideded gay mock-up. Not every gay man wants to sleep with everyone around him and all his friends. Have to say lacks story and chemistry at times. I am a big fan of all the actors and they all do amazing in acting and showing emotions, but their chemistry is off at times and I feel like the story is not going anywhere. Feels like we have seen this way too many times, and as a gay man, it is not always how it is for all of us, we all don't want to sleep with friends and lie and cheat. I respect the idea of the story but sadly comes up short on anything else. Wish the story was better the only thing it has going for it which I think is the only reason people are watching is for the intimate moments only, it is very sadly written and half the time looks like nothing is really centered for the story. Great actors but nothing else.

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