Reviews

Trash

Childish drama with a fantasy romance nuance wrapped in very boring and ambiguous. From the start I knew that this story was only made for lonely women who want to feel the feel of romance surrounded by handsome men. I don't know why this drama gets a high rating even though the story it tells is not very interesting, that's why this website is very bad at giving ratings, such as good dramas with low ratings and trash dramas with high ratings, which is very normal on this website. It starts with a strange story and FL can be said to be stupid because he interferes in other people's affairs even though he is only a side character. I've done everything I can to keep watching this drama but I gave up because I didn't enjoy watching this drama. maybe for those of you who like fantasy dramas and you feel happy being surrounded by handsome men who like you, maybe this drama is suitable for you but for me this is just a bunch of rubbish.

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Como se dice I didn't want them to get back together

For very early on I wanted to drop this series since bully x victim trope but how sailom handled the bullying was entertaining. But the last 3 episodes I really didn't want them to get back together. I get his father getting shot but what does that have to do with your boyfriend ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ. Like he's just ask shocked as everyone else. For them to just hash it out like he didn't treat him like the worse for something his brother didnt even do. "You still don't want to believe that your brother shot my dad?" Like what? Can't be me though but have your little relationship. Maybe because I just finished only friends I find it okay for not every couple to get together. The second couple of Guy and Nawa was cute or whatever. But another unhealthy start to a relationship. Hey highschool trauma bonding at its best.

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This film from 2015 was a hair more tolerable (better) for me, like the series that came out of this film two years later. The rambling and sometimes illogical progression of the characters is also present here, but it didn't have to deviate so much from the main storyline for long passages. The biggest refresher and currency was that the two main characters Nam and Meuk didn't HAVE TO PLAY ANYTHING, they were both not even 19 years old at the time of filming, so they were age appropriate and both gave a very solid performance. By that I just wanted to say that in the current projects actors are usually much older than 25-31 years old, often "rejuvenated" by Asian girls up to the eyes and playing teenagers. Of course, the experience of this film would be greater if the film could be watched in good quality. "Swimsuit movie", as someone writes here - I don't know, I haven't noticed any wave of swimsuits, there must be several dozen movies with "swimsuits".


Tento film z roku 2015 mi připadl o jeden chloupek pro mě snesitelnější (lepší), jako o dva roky z tohoto snímku vycházející seriál. Rozháranost a někdy i nelogičnost postupu postav tady je také, ale nemuselo se tak moc odbíhat na dlouhé pasáže od hlavní dějové linky. Největším osvěžením a devizou bylo to, že oba hlavní hrdinové Nam a Meuk SI NEMUSELI NA NIC HRÁT, v době natáčení neměli oba ještě ani 19 let, takže věkově oba odpovídali a oba předvedli velmi solidní výkon. Tím jsem chtěl říci jen to, že v současných projektech vystupují většinou herci již mnohem starší 25-31 let, mnohdy "omlazeni" asijskými afinkami až do očí a hrají si na teenegery. Samozřejmě prožitek z tohoto filmu by byl větší, pokud by film mohl být sledován v dobré kvalitě. "Plavečkový film", jak tady kdosi píše - nevím, já jsem žádnou vlnu plaveček nezaznamenal, to by tady muselo být několik desítek filmů s "plavečkami".

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This is a story about fated love

Just finished watching this very sweet and excellent fantasy drama that left me in tears and with a big smile.
Everything about this production was well thought out and flowed. The BL relationship issues were tastefully handled with great sensitivity. Both ML's were invested in their roles and very believable. Some of the other characters were also top notch and overall the standard of acting was very high. There are side characters and other family dramas playing out but the focus remained firmly on Jom and Yai.

It was interesting to get a glimpse of an older, more feudal, Thai family of the 1920's and the dependence of their servants.

I was very invested in their love and anxious right until the end to know how they could resolve this time-span issue. The intrigue and suspense is masterfully maintained and I love that there are not trite answers, I was left happily wondering ................
Simply wonderful and raises the bar for future BL's

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The movie based on the manga didn't suit my taste, I didn't like the story. Some of the simpler viewers, when they see these violence and murders, may start using them in reality. Plus wrapped up in an inverted gay relationship. But that does not mean that I will punish the film in other evaluation criteria, when I found the acting and processing to be above average. I do not recommend the film for delicate romantic souls.



Film natočený podle mangy se netrefil do mého vkusu, příběh se mi nelíbil. Některý z jednodužších diváků, když uvidí tyto násilnosti a vraždy, tak je může začít používat i ve skutečnosti. Navíc zabalené do převráceného gay vztahu. To ale neznamená, že film budu trestat v jiných kritériích hodnocení, kdy především herecké výkony a zpracování mi přišlo nadprůměrné. Pro jemné romantické duše film nedoporučuji.

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You will be abused if you love too much

The girl was cheated by her boyfriend, but because they had been dating for 10 years, she did not break up. FL loved her boyfriend so much that bf took advantage. Then ML will come. FL will be snatched from her boyfriend. Their relationship is strong, even with a nasty ex-girlfriend who is causing trouble. but the last few episodes are disappointing, ML is also a red flag... he's letting FL get hurt because of misunderstandings, and he can explain right away. Also, the girl proposed and then he rejected and left her just because he was shocked. like what? The girl was embarrassed in front of their friends. They have a strong relationship because FL loves differently, no wonder her ex-bf dared to cheat on her. In real life, it's not likely to happen again.

Aside from their love story, there are 2 other love stories involved. It's really confusing who the main couple is lol

Overall, it's ok to watch while waiting for new dramas. Happy Ending but im not satisfied

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An above-average series with a plot different from most of the HIStory series, I was particularly interested in the main couple. Jake Hsu in the role of a policeman was really cute, in some scenes he reminded me of a 16-year-old plucked-eared boy, whose wiry figure is precisely intended for teaching martial arts and karate. In fact, he was 28 years old at the time of filming and played his character convincingly. The plot didn't drag on, on the contrary, in some moments I was even afraid of "what hasn't happened yet" and the references to the past were good so that the viewer could better understand the plot. If it was a combination of state power and crime, I would have easily married the other couple for the sake of believability. Excellent Taiwanese product.


Nadprůměrný a dějově jiný seriál než většina ze série HIStory mě zaujal především hlavní dvojicí. Jake Hsu v roli policajta byl opravdu roztomilý, v někerých scénách mi připomínal šestnáctiletého oškubaného ušáčka, jehož šlachovitá postava je přesně určena k výuce bojových umění a karate. Ve skutečnosti měl v době natáčení 28 let a zahrál svou postavu přesvědčivě. Děj se nevlekl, naopak, v některých chvílích jsem se až bál, "co zase ještě nebylo" a dobré byly vsuvky do minulosti, aby divák lépe pochopil děj. Když to byla kombinace státní moci a zločinu, klidně bych kvůli uvěřitelnosti oželel tu druhou dvojici. Výborný taiwanský produkt.

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Not the best BL in 2023 by far...

What I like:
production quality
costumes
music
most acting

What I dislike:
The ending; yes it's fantasy and so on, but it's not believable.
Jom - he is sometimes docile, sometimes mature. Only in the finale after "returning" he is much more believable.
Stereotype evil Robert, he is too plain, just a 08/15 bad character from one of the cheap novels published every week, no depth, no other side of him, just 10 pages worth of the 60 pages.
Story-Plotholes: While Yai falling in love was shown for a long time, Jom just did it out of the blue, overcoming his trauma from ep 1 in a blink of an eye. To be gay in early 20th century was by far not as easy as it's depicted in this story. Yai confesses he loves Jom and the father was relativly mild., compared to other series where the family explodes even today. There were always exceptions to the rule but it makes this point of the story not believable.
Pacing: After Robert is removed from the series everything is dragged on an on which made me skip some scenes.
Yai with silly Mustache

Summary:
While the production quality was top notch, music was very fitting, the acting overall very good, the setting something unique, the ending unbelievable and the preview of a second season unnecessary, this show is a mixed bag. Jom should have been more struggeling and maybe slowly falling in love in episode 7 with the first spicy scene in episode 8. But of course they could have paced the show faster with some serene scenes inbetween. If there is a second season I hope they will not repeat the same mistakes they did this time where script and direction was sometimes weak.

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Love and music dominate here. I don't understand where the previous reviewer put his ears when he gave the sound a three out of ten in this film, and yet it is a film that revolves around playing the piano, and the delicious music of Debussy is an absolute bonus. The second bonus in this film is love, courtly love from medieval times, transferred to the form of the twenty-first century. Ruiku's best student has no idea how much of a "sacrifice" Maki has to make for the examining professor to postpone his final exam due to his hand injury. And at the same time, Ruiku first rejects Maki's love... Nice, pleasant, not offensive in any way.



Láska a hudba zde dominují. Nechápu, kam dal předchozí recenzent uši, když zvuk ohodnotil v tomto filmu třemi body z deseti, a přitom je to snímek, který se točí kolem hry na klavír a je v něm naprostým bonusem lahodná Debussyho hudba. Druhým bonusem v tomto filmu je láska, dvorská láska z dob středověkých, přenesená do podoby jednadvacátého století. Nejlepší student Ruiku ani netuší, jak velkou "oběť" musí podstoupit Maki, aby mu zkoušející profesor odložil termín závěrečné zkoušky kvůli zranění jeho ruky. A přitom Ruiku lásku ze strany Makiho nejdříve odmítá ... Hezké, příjemné, nijak neurážející.

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For idol dramas lasting longer than 3 hrs ... seek immediate medical help.

A Familiar Stranger is a historical costume drama revolving around 2 FLs and 2 MLs. One of the pair is the good couple, the other, not so much. And due to some ancient Chinese face swapping magic, the identities get all twisted for the FLs, and we get a romance-thriller type of story as audience try to figure out what's the goal, motivation, and the real identities behind all this plotting. Along the way, we get a story packed with plenty of dramatic moments, skinships, and heady tropes orchestrated without the filler.

**Full disclosure: this was my first mini-drama and one of the few idol costume romance shows that I've attempted. Idol romance is not an offering that I can normally stomach, but I pulled the trigger because of its short length‒18 x 10min episodes for 3 hours of total runtime. Compared to the standard bloated 40 episode 45 minute ordeal, this was doing penitence at 90% off.

Despite seeing decent ratings and good reviews, I was not expecting much. I was already wary of big budget idol dramas, and was prepared for worse given the nature of mini-dramas‒tiny budget, hastily shot, and inexperienced actors. To my surprise, this show actually packed enough story content to rival full length dramas and offered decent production quality and acting to match. That's not to say the story is a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. But for its intended audience and aim, A Familiar Stranger offered plenty of romantic moments, heady tropes, a lively plot, and plenty of eye-candy. It also answered an important scientific question that had been puzzling me‒how much idol romance drama can I stomach before the vomit just ejects out of me? Turns out, I'm definitely strong enough to go 180 minutes. And at 10% runtime, it also answered an important corollary, which is that 80-90% of the story in idol dramas are mostly brainless fodder and fluff.

Now if you are into the fluff and like the full-length ones, more power to you. Different strokes for different folks. But for those who dread the fillers, slow-pacing, and length of cdramas, these quality mini-dramas may just be your thing. And as an added bonus, these often feature a lot more chemistry, passionate scenes, and skinship than the standard dramas that face tougher censorship scrutiny.

As an aside, the business aspect of this show was one of the most interesting aspects. By having the 2 FLs face swap with each other, the script allowed both to showcase their acting chops for the 2 most common roles in cdrama‒the innocent girl and the evil girl.

**Notes and Musings**
1) ML has the most gossipy and useless military advisor.
2) The fearsome ML general also has the most porous mansion security, bad guys and unwelcomed guests roam around undetected, while the maids keep catching ML/FL at the most inconvenient moments.
3) A lot more skinship and intimate scenes compared to the usual dramas, must be laxer censorship around mini-dramas.

**Category Ratings**
Overall - 7 (+.5 MDL inflation)
Plot - 7.5
Theme/Message/Impact - 7
Acting - 7.5 The leads did a decent job for the purpose of the show
Visuals/Production - 8 looks pretty good for the budget
Audio/Music - 7.5 Sound gets muted occasionally for the YouTube version
Rewatch - 7
Accessibility - 8 Easy to understand plot and tropes
Subtitle - 8.5 Surprisingly polished subs that delivered the meaning and dialog quite well. Even the OST lyrics had decent translations.

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The Hong Kong film from the time when this city was freshly returned to "mother China" caught my attention after watching it, despite the fact that the quality of the copy was bad, which also affects the rating for many. You were focused right from the start and perceived the early days of relationships, when even a marketable boy can experience true love. The foreign currency of the film, probably not only for me, is also the fact that the main roles are played by wonderful actors and they play excellently, Daniel, Stephen and the beautiful Taiwanese Shu Qi, who plays a lesbian. The storyteller's nipples were also refreshing, so overall I don't get an excellent, but an above-average overall rating...


Hongkongský film z doby, kdy bylo toto město čerstvě navráceno "matičce Číně" mě postupným sledováním zaujal i přesto, že kvalita kopie byla špatná, což má u mnohých vliv i na hodnocení. Soustředil jse se hned od začátku a vnímal proletenec vztahů, kdy i prodejný kluk může zažít skutečnou lásku. Devizou snímku asi nejen pro mě je i to, že v hlavních rolích hrají nádherní herci a hrají výborně, Daniel, Stephen a překrásná Taiwanka Shu Qi, která hraje lesbičku. Rovněž vsuvky vypravěče příběhu byly osvěžením a tak mi celkem vychází ne vynikající, ale nadprůměrné celkové hodnocení ...

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Despite the fact that on world servers this two has a slightly better rating, as number one, I am not inclined to this and rate it overall as a slightly above average series (I rate number one better here on GT). As the biggest positive, I highlight the music, especially the main musical motif and song (sung by August Wachirawit), unusually highly rated, I uploaded the video with the song to the Videos folder. It's not the fault of the actors, how they act, it's part of the whole "production process", the script, the processing and the direction, so in the end the supporting pair seemed the most natural to me, especially the only symposia for me, Forth and his colleague Beam, who didn't walk around hot mess and they immediately shared it in bed with the traditional who will be seme and who will be uke (both wanted to be seme). The main couple, here I noticed that the Thai extreme is brought almost to the extreme here. College student Wayo, innocence alone, when after hours of watching individual episodes, he allows himself to be forced into the biggest porn of his life - a shield meringue, and it's still moving. In some scenes, the creators created him so that he walks in slow motion, sleepwalking, as if he had a pickle stuck in his ass, and communication, that's where I grew up. Before one character asks the other something, it takes an incredible amount of time, the stretching between the texts is disproportionate - that's why I deducted half of the story and processing from perfection in the form of ten points, but otherwise I recommend watching, sometimes there are also comical moments. ..


I přesto, že na světových serverech má tato dvojka o chloupek lepší hodnocení, jako jednička, já se k tomu nepřikláním a hodnotím celkově jako lehce nadprůměrný seriál (jedničku zde na GT hodnotím lépe). Jako největší klad vyzdvihuji hudbu, především hlavní hudební motiv a píseň (zpívá August Wachirawit), nebývale vysoko hodnocená, video s písní jsem nahrál do složky Videa. Není to chyba herců, jak hrají, to je součástí celého "výrobního procesu", scénáře, zpracování a režie, a tak mi jako nejpřirozenější nakonec připadla vedlejší dvojice, především jediný sympoš pro mě Forth a jeho kolega Beam, kteří nechodili kolem horké kaše a hned si to spolu v posteli rozdali s tradičním, kdo bude seme a kdo uke (oba chtěli být seme). Hlavní dvojice, zde jsem si všiml, že thajský extrém je zde přiveden téměř až do krajnosti. Vysokoškolák Wayo, nevinnost sama, kdy se po hodinách sledování jednotlivých dílů nechá donutit k největšímu pornu jeho života - štítivé pusince, a to se ještě ošívá. V některých scénách jej tvůrci zpitvořili tak, že chodí zpomaleně, náměsíčně, jakoby měl zaraženou salátovou okurku v zadku a komunikace, tak tam jsem rostl. Než se jedna postava zeptá té druhé na něco, tak to trvá neuvěřitelnou dobu, protahování mezi texty neúměrné - proto jsem ubral z příběhu a zpracování od dokonalosti v podobě deseti bodů celou polovinu, ale jinak doporučuji ke zhlédnutí, někdy jsou tam i komické chvilky ...

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A Korean sports film with Czech subtitles by monvi (thank you very much), which was assembled from the original series from the same year 2020 (all 8 episodes, does not contain any new scenes, we also have the series here with sk tit from ŠK) certainly for every viewer conjures up a good mood. The story was conceived in a comedic way, and Sang Ha imposed himself and pandered to Jin Won too much for my taste, and I was disturbed by the horrible roaring pianos in some scenes. On the contrary, pleasant songs colored other scenes, it should be highlighted that Hang was struggling with a difficult fate in life (he was literally fighting for survival), and at the same time he was still able to love, and the final kiss was just right (neither breathing fish, nor anything exaggerated, why would the viewer not believe). A nice diversion.


Korejský film ze sportovního prostředí s českými titulky od monvi-ho (díky moc), který byl poskládán z původního seriálu ze stejné roku 2020 (všech 8 epizod, neobsahuje žádné nové scény, seriál zde máme též s sk tit od ŠK) jistě každému divákovi vykouzlí dobrou náladu. Příběh byl pojat komediálně a Sang Ha se na můj vkus vnucoval a podlézal Jin Wonovi až moc a rušily mě v některých scénách ty příšerné řvavé klavíry. Naopak příjemné písně dobarvily jiné scény, vyzdvihnout je třeba to, že Hang bojoval s těžkým životním osudem (doslova se rval o přežití), a přitom dokázal ještě i milovat a závěrečný polibek byl tak akorát (ani nedýchající štítivé ryby, ani nic přehnaného, čemu by zase divák nevěřil). Příjemné zpestření.

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The mystical film, which will be twenty years old, caught my attention and words like love, first love, love at first sight are not just words. Moreover, the soul is genderless and there is always only one sexual orientation. That's the motto of this story.
In my opinion, the teacher-student relationship did not get more space for rendering, which is a shame. The character Tae Hee seems to be cursed with her role and the actress Lee Eun Joo lost her life for 4 years for filming at the age of 25.

The director did not make anything clear, as my pre-evaluator believes. The producers decided on this story and it was written by someone completely different and they hired a director to direct it, he can't break the story completely differently because he might get fired.
To tell you the truth, I liked the 2019 Thai remake of this story a little better, the movie Dew, which we also have here, in which the story is turned upside down and with a "different", more pleasant ending. And South Korea doesn't have to contend for the title of gay cultured country (see review below me). The Czech Republic is several levels ahead of the Czech Republic in terms of the production and quality of films and series with a gay theme. Overall, I rate this movie above average.
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I always watched the individual parts as soon as karcikarel translated them and I congratulate him on the first translated series. Thanks also for the links, because the episodes are not "free" on YT, like most other series.
I was intrigued by the mystical connection between two different time periods, the fact that both protagonists were locked up at home (Wade covid, José martial law) and the sympathetic appearance of both young actors. How it will turn out, the viewer can already speculate during the episodes in several variants, nice.
The acting performances were a little weak compared to other evaluation criteria, perhaps also because everything flowed somehow at the same, slowed-down pace and many scenes with other characters were so contrived, contrived, I would only blame the cutest character of the series - Wade - for the dullness. The potential of the story and characters could easily have been developed more, I was still hoping that the housekeeper Sepa was the Daling girl from the time of gen. Marcos, everything matched in age and appearance. For me, even if it doesn't reach the heavens, the series was refreshing in the mess of others.
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Jednotlivé díly jsem sledoval vždy hned, jakmile je karcikarel přeložil a gratuluji mu k prvnímu přeloženému seriálu. Díky rovněž za linky, neboť díly nejsou "volně" na YT, jako většina ostatních seriálů.
Zaujalo mě mystično spojené propojením dvou různých časových období, dále to, že oba protagonisté byli zavření doma (Wade covid, José stanné právo) a sympatický zjev obou mladých herců. Jak to dopadne může spekulovat divák již v průběhu dílů v několika variantách, pěkné.
Herecké výkony oproti jiným kritériím hodnocení malinko pokulhávaly, možná i tím, že vše plynulo jaksi stále stejným, zpomaleným tempem a mnohé scény i s jinými postavami byly takové odříkané, strojené, nevinil bych z topornosti jen pro mě nejroztomilejší postavu seriálu - Wade-a. Potenciál příběhu i postav mohl být klidně více rozvinut, stále jsem doufal, že hospodyně Sepa je ta dívka Daling z doby gen. Marcose, vše odpovídalo věkově i podobou. Pro mě, i když nesahá do nebes, byl seriál osvěžením v té změti ostatních.

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