Completed
Oh, Mando!
2 people found this review helpful
by JoJo
Aug 30, 2023
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 3.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 4.0
This review may contain spoilers

Glitters Everywhere

They didn't have to do her like that.
I was expecting a different kind of story, still dealing with the struggles of coming out but I wasn't expecting women to be the butt of the joke and a mattress for men's shortcomings.

Yes, coming out is hard. Loving someone is hard, and sometimes bad decisions are made, but betraying the person who loves you the most and has supported you throughout her life and expecting her to take care of you while you build yourself up again after also destroying her and her trust in yourself? That's too cruel and I can't stand for it.

I don't believe in forgiveness. It's okay to be angry and sad when you're betrayed. She also needs to process her feelings and she's not allowed to because she has to appease the guilt in someone else's mind. She deserved better.

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Completed
Mask Girl
2 people found this review helpful
by dymola
Aug 30, 2023
7 of 7 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

REVIEW

I think yall should watch it before having an opinion about it. Yes some scenes are disturbing and for the more sensitive ones it can be really disturbing. Some scenes are triggering too. But i dont think the drama is bad because of that. The characters are really complex and interesting , their behavior are really disputable. Also the fact that the series is kinda humorous at first but then at the second episode it starts to become really dark and serious. I really liked it because every characters are painting the failings of society. We can see with the protagonist the pressure put on women about their appearance and how it can perverted them to think that they need to prove something, to be  « pretty », to correspond at those unhealthy males expectations on how women should be, how fragile they should be, how « pretty » they should be etc… Even the others characters are questionable so i think you really should watch this drama and dont stop at the second episode. It’s a very psychological drama and interesting. Also we can see the difference of treatment between men and women. if you defend yourselves as a women you will be treated as psychopath, you will be the dangerous one because its not « how you should behave » AS A WOMAN… Also we can see how bullying and rejection can make people feel bad about themselves, and create intense feelings of frustration that can manifest in different ways… If i have on negative point for this drama it’s the fact that i had the impression of watching two different series when i compare the beginning of the drama and the end but maybe it’s not a negative point idk. And also some scenes should have been more detailed ig in the middle of the drama but it’s a good serie after all so yall should definitely watch it!

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Completed
Jack o' Frost
5 people found this review helpful
Aug 30, 2023
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 7.5
This review may contain spoilers

So freaking Cute

I went into this not knowing the plot, not knowing the characters' names, and not even understanding at all absolutely anything about the series. And boy, was I pleasantly surprised. An original story, one I've never heard of, played by two beautiful men and told in the best way. I loved it!

Let's Dive In.

So, I for one have never seen are watched anything dealing with an amnesia storyline. I think it's an interesting syndrome and personally, one that I've always feared. Imagine just one day waking up and not remembering the most important parts of your life. Scary. So off the bat, I'm very intrigued with everything going on.

I'm glad they showed us their past relationship interloping with their in-present experience. Watching Fumiya hold back and not love on Ritsu like he would've liked to was hard, but he's the reason for that, so I guess I don't feel too bad. Fumiya definitely shouldn't have kept such a big secret from Ritsu when he was trying his hardest to remember the most important parts of his life, which was definitely Fumiya. I wished he would've told him as soon as he got out of the hospital, and tried to somewhat rebuild what they used to have until Ritsu got his memories back and then it could've been happily ever after. But then again, where's the conflict in that?

Their romance was cute but I think their connection was better before they became a couple. After that, It loses some of its spark, but it's still good, just not the best. Decent kiss scenes, very soft and sensual NC scenes, it was all nicely done.

Ratings:

Story: 9/10 - Such a fun story! So original and so new, so super fun to watch. I loved the main characters, even though their relationship wasn't as strong as I would've liked it to be.

Acting: 9.5/10 - Great! The emotions out of the leads were amazing. I hope to see them again for sure.

Music: 6/10 - I don't remember it so, it wasn't distracting.

Recommendation value: 7.5/10 - A high recommendation! Super fun to watch, the story flows pretty nicely (especially for a series with only 6 episodes) and I really enjoyed myself. So definitely give this one a watch.

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Completed
The Uncanny Counter
1 people found this review helpful
by Ria Ma
Aug 30, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

A drama that will hold a special place in your heart. / Deep, Beautiful and Funny.

I began watching TUC without any expectations, since at that point I've never heard of it before and it wasn't that popular in my area. However, it became my favorite kdrama of all times and the counters hold now a special place in my heart.

The story was beautifully written with lots of emotion and depth. Each counter has its traumatic past that was amazingly written without making it feel ankward like in many other dramas. The character development was there and their growth was really beautiful to watch.

Acting was done right. We have 4 leads with impressive backgrounds behind : Jo ByeongKyu, Kim Sejeong, Yeom Hyeran and Yoo Junsang. Honorable mentions to Lee HongNae. - played Ji Cheongsin I think it was ByeongKyu's first lead role and he did an exceptional job.

OST : I'd like to recommend Sejeong's OST "Meet Again", an emotional song written by her that will deeply touch your heart.
The rest of the OST was really cool as well.

So yes. TUC is a must watch, deep with many lessons, but also funny that will heal you in the end.

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Completed
The Legend of Zhuohua
7 people found this review helpful
Aug 30, 2023
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

strong recommend to watch

I like actor and actress ,and story vey good,costume ,music and production, look forwrad to watch both actor and actress again
so in the future think director may make more movies for both main character.

strong strong recommend to watch



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Completed
A Business Proposal
2 people found this review helpful
by Ria Ma
Aug 30, 2023
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

One of the best ROM-COMS in KDRAMA Land.

I have watched and rewatched this drama many times, even after a year and a half after it has aired.
It is your typical cliche rom-com, but DONE RIGHT.

STORYLINE : is the one you would expect in this kind of drama, so nothing out of common.
ACTING : The cast has done a perfect job at portraying the characters CHEMISTRY is on FIRE, that's why they've also won BEST COUPLE AWARD.
COMEDY : 100/10 Really funny, there is no episode without a good laugh.
OST: Beautfiul, especially the popular "Love, Maybe".

So yes, watch it if you want a classic rom-com and a good laugh.
Remember : when it comes to dramas, it also comes to what you are in the mood for!

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Completed
Love You Seven Times
39 people found this review helpful
Aug 30, 2023
38 of 38 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

Sweet xianxia with seven beautiful interconnected lives

The drama tells the love story between the God of War and a Fairy and their seven lives together. Due to accidentally entangling each other with a love thread, the main leads are tasked to go through seven love tribulations together in order to repair the male lead's primordial spirit. But with each passing tribulation, secrets of the past begin to surface and a long forgotten truth is finally revealed.

POSITIVE:
- The story has tons and I mean TONS of parallels in between all lives and tribulations that the main leads experience. Everything is woven together to perfection. All the characters have meaningful roles in each tribulation, all little details like a simple hairpin are connected through all tribulations and this is very, very difficult to do so I'm absolutely blown away how it was all put together. And there are NO plot holes.
- I was sceptical at first as seven lives seemed like it might get repetitive and boring but there are not the typical 3 lives xianxia style. All lives are connected but at the same time move the plot forward in a very clever way. Each life is very different, with different settings and length of episodes. Some of the lives only FL remembers her present self, others only ML, and we also have lives where they both remember so it gives a unique experience in each one.
- I absolutely loved, loved, loved ML performance in the drama. He really brought all of his characters to life, when he was happy, I was happy, when he was in pain, I was in pain, when he was crying, I was crying. Even when I felt the script was lacking in certain scenes his brilliant performance really moved me and made up for it. I've only seen his other drama with Lusi and I have to say he has now become one of my favourite actors.
- Beautiful costumes and settings (they are done by the same production team as LBFAD).
- Secondary couple has an interesting plot twist so it's quite unique to watch.
- Happy ending for everyone (well except the bad guys lol).

NEGATIVE:
- Doesn't have that addictive factor where you totally obsess over the drama. Like there was something missing, perhaps the lack of emotional impact I was looking for.
- FL acting is very lacking. I rarely discuss acting but unfortunately this one was very obviously bad in comparison to the brilliant job that the ML actor did. I felt the FL actress was specifically bad in delivering scenes where she was supposed to be scared, distressed and in extreme pain. She was making all the facial expressions, I could see the tears but somehow there was no real emotion behind it especially compared to the ML.
- It has a slow start and the 2nd tribulation (the first human one) is the longest one so it feels very dragged out.
- The ending is quite.. well boring. Lots of unnecessary talks and excessive weird effects (almost like they ran out of budget). Without spoiling it, I feel there is a very interesting plot line relating to the tribulations that's very unique and would have made an epic final however it was brushed off and instead we were given a very typical xianxia ending.
- SML has a very typical "I'm obsessively in love with the FL" syndrome at the beginning but he gets very much redeemed in my eyes. He does get a lot of screen time and very much feels like a main character so that might be positive or negative depending how much you like his character. In general the actor did a great job and I didn't mind his scenes however in certain episodes he got more screen time than the male lead which I didn't like.
- Editing feels choppy and weird at times.
- Effects and CGI in the last episodes are a bit weird.

OVERALL:
The drama is a sweet xianxia with beautiful interconnecting themes and parallels, lots of interesting characters and some character's growth. The main focus is the love story between the leads so it's a nice comfort drama to watch. Great rewatch value because of the mystery and all parallels.

GUIDE:
Read my short episodes guide (with minor spoilers) about the 7 tribulations:
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/the-seventh-generation/110999-all-tribulation-lives-brief-info-with-minor-spoilers

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Completed
Why Women Love
3 people found this review helpful
Aug 30, 2023
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.5

A pretty cute office romance drama

I got interested in watching this drama after seeing Jin Chen in Falling Into You. As expected, Jin is very good at playing this role. Then there is Wang Ziyi. Wow~ are all people in China with the surname WANG really handsome? The first time I saw him i immediately liked him! I know that he was originally an idol who recently turned into an actor. As a newcomer actor, his acting in this drama is quite good. If Wang Ziyi continues to work as an actor, I hope he continues to practice to hone his acting skills so that he can be more perfect in his future drama or film projects.

The things I like about this drama are the fairly clear character depictions. Gu Jiaxin is a motorbike racer who is forced to enter the office world to fulfill his mother's orders. He may look like a bad boy but in fact he is a man who is very attentive to everything around him.

Then there was Zhao Jiang Yue. A manager at a company who has been single for a long time and has a project to create a lover finder application. ZJY's character is a hard worker and has no other desire besides working for the company, this is shown very well. However, after meeting GJX, she gradually opened her heart and believed in love, even though at first she was hesitant to be with GJX because she thought about his future with GJX and the views of the people around them if they were together. And also the interaction between these two is very good and sometimes very cute.

Overall, this drama is quite good and can be enjoyed as a light show and to fill your free time~

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Completed
Till the End of the Moon
3 people found this review helpful
Aug 30, 2023
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 8.5

Tragic Misunderstandings... but the chemistry kept me going.

STORY: A woman goes back in time to defeat a demon lord who caused so much chaos and death in the future. She plans to humanize him so she can kill his demon bones and then kill his actual body. So, you already know heartache ensues.

ACTING: As soon as my favorites were announced as the leads in this drama, I was HIGHLY ANTICIPATING it because I love them in Love Is Sweet & I love any of my favorites in a good costume drama.

Luo Yunxi + Bai Lu owe me some money for the therapy sessions because from beginning to end this drama made my emotions go on an intense rollercoaster ride. I barely caught a moment to breathe when they were happy times in here then we were back to angst.

Let's talk about Luo Yunxi as Tantai Jin. He is the BEST character in the show and low-key saved the whole show. I always knew Luo Yunxi could act, but he showed out in this drama. He expressed his emotions so well in his eyes and voice so I always feel so deeply any emotion he is conveying. I dare say... he is the best when it comes to that. He completely won me over with this performance as all 3 characters... TOP 3 C-Drama actors. I even love him over my fave Bai Lu now.

Bai Lu as Li Su Su | Ye Xi Wu | Sang Jiu. So, first things first Bai Lu is tied as the #1 favorite C-Drama actress… so any role she plays I am going to try my best to love... and that was the case for her role in this drama. I understood her character's role in avenging her people and I had no problem with that, but it got to a point where I was a bit exhausted. Luckily, her character "redeemed' herself. Besides that, I did love how fun and spunky her character was and how creative she was in coming up with plans to make Tantai Jin fall in love with her.

Deng Wei. I am always rooting for his success in Dramaland since I loved him so much in Miss the Dragon. I liked how honorable and kind Xiao Lin was, but hated Gongye Ji who was so pretentious.

Ran + Qing Yu were the dark horse characters and couples here and deserved so much better than what they got.

MUSIC: The intro song (The World I Love by Liu Yuning) sets the tone for every episode while the outro song (Black Moonlight by Zhang Bichen + Mao Buyi) leaves us in our somber thoughts with all the misunderstandings that goes on in here. The OST was so top-tier & memorable... I pretty much added them all to my list. My favorites were Boundary by Tia Ray, Let's Be Like This For 1000 Years by Huang Xiaoyun & Silent Moon by Hu Yanbin because these 3 songs played during my favorite scenes.

RE-WATCH VALUE: I low-key already re-watched my favorite parts already, but I can see myself re-watching this for Tantai Jin, one of my favorite male lead characters ever.

OVERALL: I say this was more of a character-driven story than a plot-driven story which can be good or bad depending on what you are looking for. Luo Yunxi + Bai Lu did what needed to be done for me to love this drama & I really hope they bless us with one more drama with them as the leads.

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Completed
Falling Into You
3 people found this review helpful
Aug 30, 2023
26 of 26 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 9.5

A drama that I don't hesitate to watch again

First of all I want to say that Wang Anyu and Jin Chen really got chemistry in this drama! this is the first drama that I watched as well as introducing me to Wang Anyu and Jin Chen. From here I also started to be curious about other dramas from them that I am currently watching.

And I also like the OST and BGM in this drama. The music placement is very good and beautiful in every scene. Wang Anyu and Jin Chen also recorded a song for this drama and I love it! Wow~ I really didn't know that they could make me fall in love with them. Starting with the spoiled but obedient character of Duan Yucheng, and the fierce but caring Luo Na. They play this role very well!

Even though I watched it late when the drama was released, I don't regret it because I finally found a drama that makes me want to watch it again and again. Once again, congratulations to both of them for making me really like the sports romance genre (usually I'm not interested in dramas like this) but because they both played their roles very well and the placement of sports and romantic scenes was balanced, I ended up liking it. I hope that in the future there will be dramas with this genre again featuring sports and romantic scenes that match the portions.

I'm looking forward to your new drama! :D

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Dropped 6/32
Doctor John
1 people found this review helpful
Aug 30, 2023
6 of 32 episodes seen
Dropped 0
Overall 3.5
Story 5.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 1.0

High promises, dire results

I hate to leave bad reviews....so let's start positively.

First, I love the two main leads. Seen them both in several dramas, and have always enjoyed the performances, particularly Ji Sung's. His performance in 'Kill Me, Heal Me' was truly spectacular. They are just as good here and the chemistry between them is great. The supporting cast is also good.

The story covers a sensitive subject quite thoroughly and lots of philosophical questions, issues and viewpoints are raised and discussed. I love that too.

However. Oh dear. However, having watched well over 150 dramas in the past year, this is one of the very few (less than 10) that I have given up on before the end. I'm a real fan of kdramas. I like their quirkiness, their corniness, their fun, their cleverness. I really admire the ability that actors, directors, scriptwriters and producers of kdramas have to consistently give us high-quality entertaining, thought-provoking dramas which charm us into full forgiveness for their cliches. I am frequently charmed into forgiving those horribly-done trip-ups so the lead lady can fall into the lead guy's arms, and all that cheese. I'm frequently brought to tears by the more real and emotional dramas, and I frequently laugh loudly at the comedy. I honestly love kdramas. But not this one. I have watched up to Episode 6 and I feel so completely dispirited that I have to stop. Not even these two great leads nor their potential as a possible future couple can keep me here. Why?

The series thus far has had a number of medical life-or-death "emergency" situations. What happens during those situations in this drama? One or other of the main leads is needed but not around, there follows a ridiculous amount of running by one lead to go find the missing lead...then the two leads have a nice calm little philosophical discussion. The "eureka" moments at these times were more like "hm, okay" moments. They are followed by some very painfully extended meaningful gazes and a totally unrealistic 180-degree change of mood and motivation once the right thing has been said. Only then can our two leads 'rush' to go and successfully help the patient when all the other doctors (who have now spent the last 'critical' 6 or 7 minutes at the patient's bedside) have failed to do. And if that isn't stretching reality enough, there is one point in the drama where a hospital VIP has a resus emergency....where no less than 22 doctors (that's twenty-two, and yes, I counted them) are stood spectating outside the patient's room while five more are carrying out the resus attempt. And our lovely leading lady arrives AFTER all those other white coats because she's been philosophising elsewhere. I know, I know, it's a kdrama. But really??

Just four minutes into Episode 1 it really had me hooked. The setting and basic character intro was just oozing potential. I really thought this was going to be amazing. Fast forward to the end of Episode 2. A couple of slow-moving situations didn't bother me at this point - those I can forgive. But honestly, from there.....most of that grand promise just dribbled away like the scriptwriter's sleepdrool. When Episode 3 finished, my interest was really fading but sometimes that happens with kdramas and things pick up.....so I still watched on. By the end of Ep 4 I found myself wondering how many Episodes there were - always a bad sign - and (key point) before I checked, found myself hoping it would be only 12. Not 16. I found out there are 20 episodes.

I did try. I managed to push through two more episodes hoping something might improve and keep me here, but absolutely nothing improved. Nothing. Really.

Sadly, the horribly random script-writing, patchy direction and the ridiculously long periods between the moments of emergency and their required actions is (to Ep 6 at least) an ongoing formula for the show.

I think this high-quality cast was badly let down by this drama. Ironically, it's almost painful to watch. For me this is a DNR.




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Completed
Where Stars Land
2 people found this review helpful
by max2n
Aug 30, 2023
32 of 32 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

Great drama <3

Wth is with that low rating. Is it a perfect drama? No. But it hit all the right beats for me (romantic or otherwise) so I love it. I only became aware of this actor in the Taxi driver drama (although I watched one of his movies without realizing it was him) but he's quickly becoming a favorite of mine. He was a little awkward here, but I attest that more to the character than his acting skills. All actors delivered a great performance, and although there were loose ends and some missing logic (in particular, the disconnect between real-world physics and what he can do with his modified limbs) but I loved it regardless. I love, too, that the show tried to highlight some of the struggles faced by the disabled.

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Completed
Senior Love Me?
1 people found this review helpful
Aug 30, 2023
2 of 2 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.5

enjoyable short series

Overall: I enjoyed this indie production which is broken into 2 parts each about 20 minutes long. This is the link for part 1 https://youtu.be/Z6fxl9xoYNM There will be a season 2.

Content Warnings: non con picture taking

What I Liked
- breaking the 4th wall (i.e. talking to the audience while in character)
- sweet moments
- the food sharing
- production value for what I assume was an indie production

Room For Improvement
- in part 2 they could have shortened the recap/flashbacks
- the female character taking pictures of them
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Completed
Where Your Eyes Linger
1 people found this review helpful
Aug 30, 2023
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 1.0

Very disappointing after the many positive reviews

I was really excited to watch this because many people were recommending it and the storyline seemed interesting but I was really disappointed. I know that many will disagree with me on this but for me this series was going nowhere. There was almost no progression until the last few episodes and then they split and got together in the end. I was really bored watching this since as I said nothing happened and also the “so great chemistry” as many said was something I couldn’t see. I felt absolutely nothing watching these two and I felt like they barely talked. For me not a got series but everyone has their own opinion.

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Completed
Be My Favorite
0 people found this review helpful
Aug 30, 2023
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

If I had the choice I'd do it all over again

My absolute favourite surprise hit of 2023.
This show could easily have used the time travel trope to tell another cliched love story, but what it did instead was combine genuinely charming and lovable characters with a compelling, character-driven plot which focuses not just on romance, but on more complex themes such as regret, loss and grief, the intricacies of friendship, the differences between the concept of an "ideal future" and one's actual, personal ideal future, and even alcoholism.
All of these topics are handled with sagacity and care and are woven seamlessly into the story.

The characters themselves are all flawed, yet sincerely likeable people who are allowed to evolve and grow not just within their romantic relationships, but outside of them as well. A perfect example of this is Pear who, rather than being sidelined as Kawi's perceived love interest and a simple obstacle on the path to "true love" between him and Pisaeng, is given a good amount of screen time which establishes her as an independent, multi-faceted character with her own motivations and idiosyncrasies.
Complex female characters who are central to the plot are still an incredible rarity in this genre, which makes Pear's addition to the show even more of a pleasant surprise.

Another thing the show does oh so wonderfully right is its approach to depicting queer characters. Not only does Pisaeng explore and question his sexuality outside of his attraction to Kawi, he also forms a bond which Max, who is not only a stellar supporting character, but also serves to offer a glimpse into the realities of being a young, openly queer person. The struggle of constantly having to fight for acceptance and equality, the internal battle for self-love, the fierce joy of being yourself, openly and unafraid.

All in all this is a truly wonderful show with a lot of heart, good music, and many interesting things to say. I'd recommend it to anyone who has ever struggled to find themselves, anyone who has ever wondered about the different roads their life could have gone down, or anyone who has ever had to fight to walk their own path.
I'd also recommend it to anyone who is simply looking for a good queer romcom.
Oh, just go watch it already, you won't regret it, I promise.

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