Reviews

what could be done in 12, was pushed to 17.

Too long!

Overall I think the story was fine but damn it shouldn't have even passed 12 episodes. especially for a show with no b, c, or runner plot(s). for it is 17, it could've used another couple/conflict, especially with all the wasted talent on account of the other female characters. (we literally see that with Phukan (the actress), she's maybe on screen 5, 7 times and she's on the poster.)

I really hated that they left my homegirl May to just be another conquest and we had to brush over the fact that her best friend ended up marrying the guy! Like homegirl pours her whole heart out to you and in some writing that feels like some guy wrote it, she just says you should've been more careful. Plus after they get married it's never really brought up again. I think this really says a lot about how lacking the conflict is...everyone is so focused on getting this money back that we don't have time for literally anything else.

My absolute favorite part was Jen. there were so many times that I couldn't help but wonder: what's your goal? like do you wanna be with the ML or use his money or keep your job (lol she loses all three). I do kinda love that she really did play herself. All she had to do was stay quiet and play dumb but this b couldn't help herself. I love that she had the gall.

Mew being here made me ask why are you here...to be the other guy? Also, I can't even tell if his acting is just bad here (which is odd since I know he can do angst well) or just the sub-par writing when it came to the two male leads. For the life of me, I truly couldn't tell you what the motivations behind half of these characters were. ...I'm just lost.

You are telling me Jes's character is some kinda of cheating playboy...yet besides Jen and the big reveal (his...not aunt) all of the girls he's been with are primarily one-night stands due to trauma? Like let him hook up with MAY and while I'm glad May didn't do anything... I kinda wish she did? There was some serious favor lacking in the whole cheating escapade plot...they should've just made him a scammer who f's his fake aunt... The cheating (?)/one-night stand phase (?) was weak.

Also...who were the perfumes for? I watch most of these at half speed and I know for a fact they forgot plot lines halfway through cuz the jump from cheater to scammer to oh you guessed it MARRIAGE FRAUD was like one episode to another. I guess that explains the whole harem thing but not really...because the photos provided for his while cheating era were from the same hotel and the whole point of the marriage fraud was that he was doing this thing internationally! I think what makes me laugh most is when the lady who is helping her with her case says that she didn't lose enough money...HUH like it sounded like quite a bit of money to me.

All in all, while I had fun this was kinda a miss. I was bored half the time and now as I've been writing this I've just become mad.

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Really Good

I just finished rewatching “Why Women Love” and I wanted to watch something else that Jin “Gina” Chen was featured because that woman can act and has the best matured strong sexy FL aura for CDramas on lockdown IMO and I was looking for a mature CDrama without all the cutesy baby-voiced and baby-like FL characters and needed a break from all that. I never knew Cdrama had this mature type of series. It’s like watching real life adults live their everyday life’s.
There is no oh they are pushing 30 and haven’t been in a relationship before and that pull/push CDrama trope between the leads and then they start dating and are the only ones for each other for all of times but can’t even sit close to each other without being so shy and looking so awkward and also wouldn’t even sleep on the same bed, even a bed big enough for 3 people, how tf are you in a relationship but can’t even share a bed together, I still do not understand the logic behind this behavior in Cdramas because you can absolutely share a bed without having sex but wait for it, this same people who are pushing 30 and haven’t been kissed before nor being in a relationship and who are so shy and adverse to sharing a bed at the beginning of the said first relationship would suddenly in a few episodes into the dating life, become experts in the bedroom without any prior experience, puhhhhh-leaassseeee.
But there is none of that in this drama, thank God for that. The characters are real world/life adults here with their own struggles and challenges.
The only character I do not like is Guan Yue. She feels she is owed something by everyone. She is annoying with the constant woe is me attitude towards her supposed failures which she is the architect of most of the time. I’m at ep18 and she has become less annoying but I don’t know if it’s too late for viewers to fall in love with her.
Shen Si Yi takes life by the bull horn, she knows what she wants and she goes after it. She been so scarred for life by her parents and it’s really sad. I love her character so much, I agree with Yao Yuan though, if she doesn’t open herself to real love, she’s letting her parents win and they don’t deserve to win so I really wish she would open up herself to love so as to not let them win and also she can experience life in full.
My favorite line so far is from ep18 when Lu Ke got back from here date with Zhang Mang and wanted to sneak in but Shen Si Yi wasn’t having it. During their convo she told her that “Zhang’s eyes are shining when he looks at her”, she’s like really, Shen Si Yi is like “Ofcourse not, it isn’t as if he has light bulbs for eyes”, I laughed so hard at that.
It’s a really good series and I’m really enjoying watching it.
It’s really not something I would rewatch though.

Update @ep23. I didn’t think GuanYue could be dumber but well she’s proven me totally wrong. She finally gets her big break through connections (which I personally have nothing against as long as you are worth it but in this case she’s not totally not worth it IMO) and then she’s so dumb, stupid and gullible and just hands over her design to someone else just like that, she deserves to be fired IMO. The business/art world is cutthroat and nobody has the time to hold your hands.
I don’t know where she gets off throwing tantrums and the self righteous indignation towards her friends, who are trying their best to cheer her foolish self up. I can’t for the life of me understand how she’s friends with that group. She looks and feels out of place with them. Even though they are struggling with maintaining personal/romantic relationships, they all still have the matured adult aura but she just looks and behaves like a child who is playing dress up with her elder ones friends. And the group keeps babying and coddling her instead of telling her to grow the hell up.

Update @ep36 after completing the series.
I reduced my original rating of 9/10 to 8/10 just because I wished the series focused more on the personal/romantic relationships of the characters, I don’t know if they changed directors half way, because the mature sexy romance of the first part turned into a muted romance, maybe that’s why they left Shen Si Yi and Yao Yuan’s reconciliation to the last episode because there was no way they could have muted that chemistry/romance, which was a real shame that we didn’t get to see them together for longer. Guan Yue should have as well been one of the leads because lemme tell you it felt like she got more screen time that the leads, which would have been fine if her story arc was interesting. Anyways overall I enjoyed the series and I don’t regret watching it because I got to watch Jin “Gina” Chen.

Rewatch value 5/10
Overall 8/10
Even though I would not necessarily rewatch this I highly recommend you watch it once.

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Not Horrible but this plot has been done better

Honestly I was not impressed by this drama. Having previously watched Business Proposal, I felt that BP was very similar to Secretary Kim but better done. The Male Lead is a good actor but his character was rather dull. The chemistry between the male and female lead was OK but nothing worth mentioning. I felt the chemistry between the side characters was better, and the storyline also better than the main storyline. The ending, like a lot of K-Dramas, felt overly long and had me wishing it would end. It wasn't a horrible show but there are so many better ones that I don't know if I'd recommend this one.

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"Man is too small when faced with the vastness of nature"

Dersu Uzala was based on the real lives and friendship of Dersu Uzala and Vladimir Arsenyev in the Siberian wilderness during the early 1900's. The impressive film about friendship won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1976. Aside from its famous director, Kurosawa Akira, you aren't likely to recognize any of the names in this Soviet-Japanese film, but don't let that deter you as the performances were all first rate.

The film begins with Capt. Arsenyev and his men doing a topographical study of the Ussuri Region. Local hunter, Dersu, enters their camp having followed them for much of the day. The next thing he knows he has become their guide. Dersu is wise, kind, and generous as well as being a skilled hunter. The soldiers are largely unaware of the world he sees and hears around them. "Got eyes but don't see." At first the men are amused at his views, such as fire, wind, and water being alive and "strong men" to be wary of. It doesn't take long for them to come to respect him and trust his guidance. He also teaches them compassion for people and animals in ways they had not thought of in his special lessons on wilderness etiquette.

Arsenyev learns the hard way what disregarding Dersu's advice means in the life and death world of winter in the dangerous world. The two men slowly build on their trust and respect to develop a deep and abiding friendship. The movie could have comfortably ended at the 70-minute mark, and I did find the first half more compelling. When Arsenyev returns to the wilderness he finds his friend older, but largely unchanged. They race to each other and embrace as if soul mates and maybe in some ways they were. Only after an incident with a tiger, do Dersu's facilities begin to decline. The aged tracker and hunter finally relents, acquiescing to his friend's invitation to come live with him in town. Dersu understandably struggles to adapt to the confinement of city living. The film hauntingly ends much as Arsenyev's 1923 memoir.

This film is one that will find itself with a divided audience. There was almost no conflict which could be a deterrent for many, especially with a 140-minute running time. The characters found themselves in few perilous moments or facing life altering events. At the same time, it was an expedition into the beautiful world of the Siberian taiga and the development of a devoted friendship. People from disparate places came to understand each other. The film could almost fall into a slice of life travel drama with its languid, graceful pace.

Kurosawa's signature style appeared throughout the film. An encounter with a tiger leads to a mystical moment for the tracker, a seemingly innocent encounter that had profound effects on his psyche which reminded me of other Kurosawa characters affected by surreal events. Kurosawa's own particular blood red sky and sun also reflected in the ice was used in several scenes, reminiscent of Dodesukaden's sky. A faint rainbow appeared at a hut in the misty woods as happened in several of his films. At times, Kurosawa's signature winds and fog obscured the scenery, heralding in moments of significant changes. The film was beautifully shot in the Russian wilderness and accompanied by an elegant musical score. Rivers, forests, snowy marshes, and a frozen lake shared the screen with actors trudging through and over them. Despite the exquisite landscapes and evolving seasons, Kurosawa kept the story focused on the two men. In one particular segment Dersu and Arsenyev become lost when returning from a frozen lake. At Dersu's bequest they desperately cut the tall marsh grasses in a blinding wind storm for a makeshift shelter in order to survive the bitterly cold night. This scene with few words was stunning and emotionally gripping.

George Lucas has eluded that Yoda may have been loosely based on Dersu. With Dersu's broken Russian and oneness with nature it would be an easy leap in logic. At one point when Dersu was in danger after saving the rest of the men, he had to orchestrate his own rescue advising the men how to accomplish it. While his abilities seemed almost magical to the city folk, his skills were honed over a lifetime living in the harsh conditions needing to always be aware of his surroundings to survive. I believe he would have agreed with Yoda, "Do or do not, there is no try."

Rather than a man against nature theme, the story advocated man living peacefully and reflectively with nature and other people. Nature may be unforgiving, but it was also possible to learn from her and receive her gifts. Kurosawa showed not only the best of humanity but also the cruel face of humanity as well in the way heartless men treated animals and other humans. Though he touched on several subjects the overriding core of the film and its main focus was the friendship of two men from different walks of life who bonded in the wilderness.

It would be hard to overstate the skill Kurosawa used in the making of this film. The raw, scenic landscapes seemed to have personalities of their own, much as Dersu believed. Though the story was simple it was not simplistic. The unbreakable friendship of Dersu and Arsenyev resonated deeply with me. Even at over 2 hours long, I would happily watch this film again.

6/6/23

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Not too bad, not too good

Accidentally stumbled upon this series via my YouTube feed. The series length is alright, not too long. Talks about Twins and switching of places etc - good twin, bad twin. There has been quite a few series of these sort. Other than the male lead, I did not really recognize any of the other casts. Story wise, it is alright. Not something I am really fascinated with or jumping about it. It is also not something I would rewatch. It is a nice first time to watch series, however, if you personally love series about twins switching places and plots of snatching power etc, then it would be something for you. The songs are also quite nice to listen to.

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Were they even trying?

The entire drama and the main couple's relationship was built entirely around bonding over their each others trauma. Not necessarily bad but it felt it was purposely designed that way to manipulate the viewers' emotions forcefully. This was pretty obvious from the very beginning with how they portrayed and handled the female lead's boyfriend. You would fell for their trap if you were a newcomer. The music choices were odd and mostly cheap, in addition, the dubstep soundtrack was completely unfitting. Anyway, if it wasn't for the forestry scenery then the drama wouldn't have had much to offer. Throwing in two attractive leads together isn't enough anymore.

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Nearly Great

MoD was a very enjoyable show to watch IF you're more invested in the storyline than the romance. There were so many scenes where the relationship should have developed more, but then there's a cut to the next scene! Max and Tul have such great chemistry together, and I honestly wish we could have seen a more gradual development of their relationship instead of kiss scenes that seem out of place and a lack of romance in the scenes that should have it.

The plot was really interesting and I enjoyed the crime aspect of the show a lot. I think things could have been sped up just a bit, but overall it was fairly well paced. The characters outside of the MaxTul were still super interesting to watch, and the viewer is kept on their toes trying to figure out what actually happened in the murder case. I think that this is a great watch, but the writing of the romance scenes was a little rough. Max and Tul were able to pull it off, but it could have been executed a lot better. Intertwining the romance and the crime plotlines in a way that didn't make either seem out of place would have made this show flow much better.

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Draggy towards a happy ending

Title should've been Love of Irrational Beings. Spent almost half the show watching draggy scenes of irrational people go through the motion of falling in love.

Starting with the FL's bestie; what's with her attitude towards relationships? Like it's should come with expiration date, end it before it expires...

Or the FL's irrational choice to choose to work for the ML's nemesis over and over again. Or the ML's decision to push the FL towards her dreams, even if it meant pushing her to work for his nemesis, it's sweet but a little to much..

Anyway actors were ok, OST too. And it has a happy ending so it's all good. Rewatch, not likely though.

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Seriously, what did I just watch!?!?

Normally I wouldn't rate a show that I had to drop, but this show irritated me on so many levels. I watched a couple of the first episodes and then skipped to the last couple of episodes, so take this for what it's worth.

Female lead was tremendously irritating. Was it a self-esteem problem? An entitlement problem? I found it hard to like anything about her. She didn't appear to be very bright, and I just kept wondering what her deal was. Then there was the male lead. He had an interesting job, I'll give him that, but BOY was he boring. He had no on-screen presence and his performance was bland.

Oh, so very much drinking, and the FL even said that getting drunk is the only way to have fun.

This was filmed in 2016 but it seemed older than that. The clothing and the colors in the clothing were more like the 1970's and the male lead's hair reminded me of a football helmet.

So, if you are a tolerant person, you might want to give this a try. But for me, there was just too much wrong with it.

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A Story of Perseverance Despite Setbacks

The Days is an 8 Episode drama series based on true events on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster in March 2011. If you’re interested in disaster dramas, then this drama is for you.

The drama follows Yoshida, the station manager, during his struggle with trying to keep the station stable. He has to balance out the lives of his colleagues and subordinates, and also his commands from senior TOEPCO management and the Japanese government. He has many ethical dilemmas that we as a viewer, feel the struggles of making these difficult decisions. The time following Yoshida, is also interspersed with time following various teams working on the effort to restore the station to safety.

It has many incredibly tense and emotional moments - that really put yourself in the situation. Especially if you watch the episodes back to back, it makes you feel the stress the teams must have felt during the days after the tsunami.

By the end of the last episode, the drama places most of the blame between the Japanese government and TOEPCO - which after researching the incident in more detail, I would very much agree.

There were some points where there is some technical jargon which is not necessarily explained, so you may feel slightly confused, but often the jargon that isn’t explained isn’t necessary for the story. However, one thing that can be slightly confusing is when they discuss the pressures for the various units, and as we move from one unit to another it can be confusing onto what the status of the various units and which one is in danger for example.

If you like apocalyptic or disaster dramas, then do watch this show! I was gripped each episode, and wanted to know how things evolve. And even if you know the ending with the real life situation, it is still incredibly gripping and is a must watch.

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Lusi again executed the wonderful character

If you are looking for her typical romance drama, this only has about 10% of love scene in it. That’s why the low rate reviews are mostly disappointed reviews due to luck of romance.

This drama is more like family drama who continue to practice Traditional Chinese Medicine. Lusi will be chosen as the future successor, however she is a typical free spirited orphan who doesn’t like to be told what to do. And she meets son of family and romance will develop. You must see with your eyes what will happen between them. It’s not an easy love with so many ups and downs.

If you are fan of Lusi, then I’m positive you will like this drama even there are little romance. First of all, the chemistry with ML, it became quite good towards the middle. This new comer ML, he was amazing to play the son and love interest of Lusi as spoiled yet struggling to find his position in his family. It’s so surprised to know this drama is his 1st drama!! There are two more side couple stories. Their characters represents ‘ Yin and Yang ‘ thru the episodes.

I usual like to give 10 stars due to bias fan of Lusi, but there were few frustrating episodes towards the end and some of the stories weren’t necessary to be included in the drama. Sudden change of story lines and nuance were really not my favorite in this drama. So I deducted 0.5. If they wrapped up the last 5-6 episodes with more romance between FL and ML, it would have been 10.

If you like medical drama, family drama, funny/serious/crying moments/romances, and of course, Lusi fan, don’t miss it!

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