Reviews

Dreadful actually

So, I watched it because it's THE Bl, you know. You gotta watch it to understand why people love it or why they hate it.

While I did enjoy ep 1 enough, I could not for the love of god enjoy the rest. TharnType are assholes and they deserve each other lol. Admittedly, they do have crazy chemistry. When they are not assholes to each other and being couply, they actually are quite cute. That's why I really enjoyed their special ep which was mostly fluff.

The acting is alright I guess. The characters are hella infuriating, you just wanna slap them all the damn time. Except for Techno, the only guy with a braincell.

Everything and everyone is pretty dramatic and toxic, lots of people love that (as you can see), but it's not for me. I probably won't watch S2 either.

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A story full of humanity in the face + despite blatant inhumanity. An epic about love & compassion

"Eyes of Dawn" marks a quite spectacular milestone for South Korea Television Series as well as the kick off for a new era of TV production – ambitious in terms of time sensitive content as well as an artistically valuable approach. The production dates back to 1991… South Korean life is just cautiously starting to be a bit less suppressed.

"Eyes of Dawn" is the creative script and cinematic processing of a novel, which deals with the tragic relationships of the three protagonists Choi Dae-chi, Yoon Yeo-ok and Jang Ha-rim as well as the bitter history of their time. The story takes place during the Japanese colonial rule, during the last years of the second world war and reaches up to the liberation of Korea and the time of the Korean War.

The KDrama begins its story during the last years of World War II – with Yeo-ok, a comfort woman, who like cattle is being shipped to northern Manchuria, and Ha-rim, who is drafted into the military as a student. Yeo-ok meets and falls in love with soldier Dae-chi, while serving as a comfort woman for his Kwantung Army unit. (With Ha-rim she only meets much later. )The world war and the subsequent struggle in Korea for a new political identity grind the three protagonists mercilessly through somewhat traumatizing mills. Love and passion accompany the three on their dramatically entangled paths, where they sometimes meet, sometimes separate, meet again and separate again within the turbulent swell of their time. Showdown is during the Korean War at Jirisan Mountain – in the ´eyes of dawn´…

For this KDrama MBC spent a lot of money – more than 5 times as much, compared to other TV series. It was shot at original or similarly exotic locations abroad. (If you like, see also the side notes below.) The project feels more like an approx. 36-hours-long movie. With "Eyes of Dawn" MBC celebrated its 30th anniversary with a bang, so to speak. The KDrama was enthusiastically received by the audience. For director Kim Jong-hak, "Eyes of Dawn" was the breakthrough. The former journalist came to MBC in 1977 and worked his way up the ranks with historical dramas in a politically turbulent time full of rapid changes (in series production, too). However, "Eyes of Dawn" is his first truly self-responsible of two innovative, groundbreaking masterpieces (the other being "Sandglass"). Thus, Kim has unsparingly reappraised the latest history of his country and his compatriots with a confident original signature and thorough, artitistic determination. At his side, screenwriter Song Ji-na provided a well-rounded, coherent script with depth and complexity. A team of talented actors and an intensely lingering soundtrack rounded off the ambitious projects with a high entertainment value.
Fantastic actors. The three leads in particular, but not just them. This applies to everyone else – there were an impressive 270 actors as well as around 21.000 supernumeraries involved...

"Eyes of Dawn" and "Sandglass" are actually both (in contrast, for example, to the younger KDrama "Faith or The Great Doctor", which Kim Jong-hak also had directed) reduced to the essentials when it comes to dialogues. Passionate, but also ruthless in the authenticity of sometimes ugly, even brutal details. Gross and austere, yet visually stunning, too. With selected camera angles that often say more than words, and scenes, that burn into your memory. The KDrama wants to show life as it was, back then... 'Nice' is rare. Sincere it is, though. Serious. A great piece of series culture. A dream of a historical drama, aiming at bringing history to consciousness in a memorable, authentic way. Thus, what happened is not forgotten. It is a cinematic monument: Take a look! Feel it! Recognize what happened! Estimate! (Too bad, it's not widely circulated with at least English subtitles... however, apparently there's a musical now... well... let´s hope.)

The story offers merciless insight into the suffering of the comfort women who, even as teenagers, were often brutally physically abused for the pleasure of the Japanese soldiers – a war crime that has not been adequately investigated and atoned for to this day. In principle, people of Chōsen were systematically oppressed back then. The Chōsen soldiers in the Japanese army, thus also had a particularly hard time, as the KDrama bluntly shows, too. And then there is the turmoil and ruthless brutality of diverse war sites in inhospitable locations around the Pacific Ocean, and later between brothers and sisters as the Korean Peninsula was coldly caught by the increasing Cold War. With the uprising on Jeju-do becoming part of the story, an up until then rarely discussed aspect of the late 1940s comes to mind. As well as another, often suppressed war crime that Japan had committed against its international prisoners in connection with Unit 731: mostly deadly ending medical experiments on several thousand men, women and children in one of the coldest places on earth, in northern Manchuria. (In case you didn´t know, you may see the side note below.)

But "Eyes of Dawn" is also a story full of humanity even in the face and despite all blatant inhumanity. An epic about love, friendship, connection and compassion. There were plenty of awards. I line up there. This KDrama production is particularly valuable…
(...especially from a historical point of view for me as a European. Although I did take history as an advanced course in school, I somehow had never considered a lot of these events and topics really seriously before. But even beyond its historically enlightening ambitions, "Eyes of Dawn" consistently and purposefully tells a powerful story about three (ordinary) people of their time and their tragic fates, complexly woven into an emotionally touching love triangle.

(For the sake of completeness: as this KDrama is from 1991, visual and acoustical quality obviously can´t be compared to recent standards...)





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SIDE NOTE
--- Some background information on the Pacific War and the filming locations at the original historical locations ---

- War sites on the Chinese Mainland – Northern Manchuria
World War II began in Asia with Japan's invasion of China in 1937. The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought almost exclusively on the Chinese mainland until the end of 1941. Only with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7 in 1941 did it spread to the entire Pacific and had the US allies also intervening in the war against the massive Japanese expansionist policy. Thus, in the course of 1942, the balance of power shifted towards the USA. However, the warfare was difficult. The scenes of the battles were often in impassable swampy areas and rain forests, where tanks and heavy artillery could not be used. So there was a lot of fighting in the air and on the water. In November 1943, the Soviet Union also opposed Japan and opened a second front in Manchuria. The air for Japan was getting thinner and thinner. The army motivated their soldiers by employing 'comfort women', practically forcibly recruited from their colonies, who accompanied 'their' troops as sex slaves and had to ensure their good morale. Among them were minors, too (like the fictional Yeo-ok).

- In the jungles of Burma
In its large-scale campaign to conquer all of Southeast Asia, after the effective invasions of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, Japan was also able to take Burma in the spring of 1942. China was thus cut off from supplies. Starting from Ledo in British-Indian Assam, the USA had an extra supply road built through Burma's jungle – the "Ledo Road". In the meantime, the Japanese troops were pushing the British further and further back into the north of Burma, ultimately driving them out of the country for good and even pushing forward into India in a further offensive. The Japanese army had now themselves fallen victim to the lack of replenishment with supplies. They originally only had food for three weeks. After that they had to see for themselves. (These jungle fights become the operational area of the fictional Dae-chi.) In this context, in 1944 the fierce hand-to-hand combats at Imphal and Kohima south of Ledo marked a turning point in the course of the Second World War as the British reinforcements arrived just in time.

- Saipan: Strategically important Mariana island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
In mid-June 1944, the US Marines landed on the south-west coast of Saipan in the bitter struggle for the strategically important island chain of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. This also becomes the setting in "Eyes of Dawn", because Ha-rim is stationed in the field hospital here and Yeo-ok was also shipped there as a comfort woman.
Three weeks after the US Marines landed, the heavily fortified island with its three airfields was owned by the Americans. From here, the neighboring island of Tinian could also be taken, from where the atomic bombers in the direction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki actually started about a year later.

- From Liberation of Chōsen to Korean War
The Japanese surrender in 1945 was followed by the liberation of the Chōsen colony. Contrary to the Western view of this 'liberation' of Korea and the role of the USA in supporting/forcing a democratic South, which for me as a German is more Western, in "Eyes of Dawn" you get a non-Western portrayal. The post-colonial struggle of the people of Korean origin for their political sovereignty, previously stolen by Japan, began even before the (rest of the ) world recognized it as the Korean War in 1950. "Eyes of Dawn" portrays the time of the tussle between the USA, Russia and China on the one hand and the search for a new national Korean political identity on the other. The KDrama emphasizes this in a dramaturgically moving way using the example of the fatal triangular relationship between Dae-chi, Ha-rim and Yeo-ok in the back and forth of their pro- and anti-communist agent activities and in the service of the army of the newly installed Republic of Korea on the one hand and those who resist this government on the other partisan army on the other hand.
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SIDE NOTE:
--- Jeju Uprising 1948/49 ---

A notable sequence in connection with the resistance against the US-sponsored Rhee government is the April 1948 to June 1949 uprising on Jeju Island. The KDrama had its scenes shot on location. Just consider, that at the time of the uprising almost every family on the island had probably lost someone, but for decades silence was officially decreed about this mass murder launched by their own (new South Korean) government. Surviving 'activists' were banned from working throughout South Korea. "Eyes of Dawn" is one of the first public confessions and the cautious approach to coming to terms with the past with regard to that dark first chapter of this young republic.

The USA categorically rejecting any kind of communist orientation regarding a political future as South Korea or all of Korea, were faced with plenty of riots and guerrilla actions in the course of the national resistance against an (yet again) unwanted paternalism. The uprising on Jeju Island is arguably one of the most shocking examples. After expressions of dissatisfaction with the planned elections for the US-sponsored government and resistance to renewed foreign rule, the population was ruthlessly massacred by the Korean army and the help of the US-Army´s occupying forces. The people fled to Hallasan mountain area while their coastal villages (270 out of 400) were destroyed. There is disagreement about the number of actual casualty – the numbers vary between 27.000 and 140.000.

In 1991, when "Eyes of Dawn" was broadcast, this topic had not yet been officially dealt with – but with this KDrama the uprising got an unmistakable voice and recognition for the first time. It was not until 1999 that the government convened a thorough investigation. In 2006, the government officially apologized. However, police and the Department of Defense only came up with an apology recently, in 2019.
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SIDE NOTE:
--- Region of Harbin in northern Manchuria and Unit 731 of the Japanese Kwantung Army, which experimented with biological and chemical weapons on humans and then used those on civilians as well ---

Japan had already secured influence in northern Manchuria during the course of the first Sino-Japanese War by building the South Manchurian Railway. The valuable raw materials mined here were transported to Chōsen and shipped from there to Japan. The railway was under the protection of the Japanese Kwantung Army. Between the first two world wars, Russia, Japan and China fought for supremacy in Manchuria. Eventually, with the Japanese occupation of this economically viable region in 1932, they established the puppet state of Manchukuo, with Harbin being its largest city. Here was the stronghold where Unit 731, led by Ishii Shirō, began their spooky experiments. At last, after the end of war, between 1945 and 1948, the Communist People's Liberation Army, strengthened by its anti-Japanese resistance concentrated its forces in Manchuria.

Surgeon General Ishii Shirō and his Unit 731 were busy starting 1932 in and around Harbin with experiments on living people. Around 3.000 mostly bacteriologists worked for Unit 731. An estimated 3.500 mostly Korean and Chinese civilians as well as Soviet prisoners of war were victims of their cruel human experiments.

The experiments of the Imperial Japanese Army's secret Kwantung Army Unit 731, disguised as the "Department of Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department" laid the groundwork for a wide variety of horrific war crimes during World War II. Among this ´research´, for example, were investigations concerning varying effects of grenades on the human body depending on distance and position, investigations into the effects of bombs filled with a variation of bacterial powders, of pest bacteria or anthrax bacteria, or bombs filled with fleas being contained by such bacteria. It has been proven that Chinese prisoners of war were given food that was deliberately contaminated with typhoid pathogens. During the final years of the war, around 130 kg of anthrax warfare produced by Unit 731 was used to contaminate lakes, rivers and wells on enemy soil. Finally US prisoners of war were 1943ff used for experiments of Unit 731, too. E.g., for research about the susceptibility of 'white' people to epidemics. During the course of the war, another tens of thousands of mostly civilians died from rat induced epidemics of plague, of anthrax and of typhoid pathogens as a result of ´field research´ and by the use of thus produced biological weapons, based on the 'medical research' in Harbin.

And for further information:
Unit 731 always had the full support of later Japanese prime ministers, and the Japanese imperial family was aware of it, too.
The main perpetrators of Unit 731, including Ishii Shirō himself, ultimately remained unpunished after the war crimes trials – in exchange for the research results that they handed over to the USA.
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Plot is even dumber than in S1

When you think S1's plot is dumb, S2 somehow manages to beat it. What was the point? Should have given us 4 Episodes of them making out or just being couply instead, I would have given it a 10!
There was some angst about their marriage. I do appreciate that Kuea talked about it eventually and the moment Lian looked so hurt but so ready to support him? Man, I hate Zee, stop making me feel so WEAK.
Yey for the character development (?) of Kuea telling that dude he's got a rich and hot boyfriend like yeah! You go buddy, show off your sexy man.

The whole wedding itself was a big wtf. These guys have been engaged for 20 years and never talked about what they wanted and then threw everything at the poor secretary instead of hiring and actual wedding planner??? Man deserves a raise and 2 months paid vacation.
Also what was that catastrophe plot at ep 4 and then Perth/Jay magically appears and suddenly everything is sunny and amazing again?

The side pairings have great moments, though. NuerSyn are adorable!

Anyway, it was fun while it lasted, while I have a lot to criticise about Cutie Pie, I did enjoy watching it. ZNN's chemistry alone is worth everything.

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I Loved This!

What a joy ride this is. It is a simple basic story of ‘first times’. This is an astonishing and brilliant look at how serendipitous, random, and interesting life can be with the possibility of a total stranger completely enveloping your world with more than perhaps you were expecting. All of it is so subtle yet profoundly directional. An exceptional and brilliant short. A stunning and beautiful slice of life story where two people by sheer randomness comes into each other’s lives, influences them, and maybe, just maybe, connects them in ways neither one dreamt would or could happen when they woke up that morning.

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Nice and all, but forgettable

I have to be honest, I binged until ep 6 and then waited 3 days for ep 7 and then forgot most of what happened by the point I watched ep 7.

Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly .... nice.
It's cute and light, the actors have good chemistry. There are some really cool and fun moments.
Then some angst happens which was written kind of in a weak way, made no sense, but not unusual for BL. Then it was easily resolved and then End. *shrug*

I feel like I can't even say much, because I forgot so mich already, even though I watched everything last week. Maybe if the script was stronger, maybe if it had more run time, it could have been better, but I don't think this drama aimed for anything but light and cute.

Since it's quite short, it's perfectly fine to watch if you got nothing else to watch, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone.

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One of the most beautiful BLs out there

It's stunning and beautiful in so many diffferent ways, not only in terms of cinematography but also story.

It's a far more mature plot than we are used to in especially Thai Bls, but it's what makes it special. We see these two people step by step falling in love, but we also watch how Tian falls in love with the life at the little village and everyone and everything who is a part of it.

Lots of people are frustrated by the lack of kisses, but I think we got a lot of intimacy before that. I do wish though the actual romance after the disruption was handled differently and more thouroughly. Also more couple moments would have been nice!

While a lot started to hate Phupa for what he said and done and I get their frustration, I think it was understandable to a degree, why he misunderstood. I just wish they would have talked about it better.

EarthMix were lovely, I am glad they have Moonlight Chicken coming up!

The music was ewually beautiful and really elevated the mood and feeling.

I really don't know what kind of magic P'Aof puts into his work but I hope he never stops!

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Fairly goodl

The drama started out rather intriguing and very engaging, the build of the story was very impressive, truly in the Wuxia style (even though I think there were just too many XianXia elements). The storyline though predictable ( kind of imbued with lots and similar characters of Nirvana in Fire) but is quite entertaining. I love the friendship and camaraderie of the youths formed along the way (I assumed they were in their teens and some of them are just way too old to play the teen roles, which I am prepared to overlook as I am so used to already in C Drama and K Drama) The build-up of the characters too were great, and it went on smoothly until some 32 episodes later I realised none of the youth characters has achieved any greatness, and that is more than three-quarters of the way through.. but soon after the story just plateaued and it just went flat right to the end! So much potential for a fantastic and great drama ended with a bunch of rather unremarkable youth who only managed to stay alive because some of the villains woke up from a trance and saved the day.. and Guess what? Like Who Rules The World, again, they gave up their non-achievement and their sworn duty and travel the Jiangsu... So Love Like The Galaxy is still the Best Wuxia drama in recent years, (post Nirvana In Fire) .. Autumn Ballade, Dream of Splendour, Who Rules The World and now The Blood of Youth are the promising Dramas with some of the worst ending in recent years.

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Fully expected to hate, but it was fun!

After what I have read about 2gether, I thought I would end up clowning it, but here we are. I actually enjoyed it. It was light and fun and dumb, sure sometimes stupidly silly.

BrightWin do not have the kind of chemistry that makes you fall to your knees and beg for more moments, sometimes they just seem like really good Bros who happen to share a bed.
Win was actually pretty decent in his role considering his little experience at that point. Bright's acting repertoire seems to be blinking and squinting like 2/3 of the drama, but I do believe he got better lol
I have seen far less interesting chemistry in a bl though, so it was fine.

All the singing though ... I could have lived without but they are in the music club after all.

The friends together are a riot and fun, I often found myself laughing and enjoying myself.

If you like a little bit of fake dating au with emotionally constipated characters and really dumb friends, you will enjoy it!

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Unbelievably funny, cute & sweet drama

"Unbelievable", this drama is what you need after watching all the serious dramas with heavy plots. You will find something lighthearted to relax a bit and also enjoy this unbelievably funny, cute, and sweet romance.

Story: The plot summary in MDL makes you think twice to start the drama. You saw this story so many times. A typical cliche story. Also, this is a web drama with a low budget. So, I hesitated at first but later gave the drama a try. After watching the drama, I must say that the drama is surprisingly good. The plot is a typical CEO rom-com plot but It is a well-made funny rom-com. A very predictable plot, but who cares. You come here to spend your time enjoying something. No doubt, the drama will give you enough enjoyment with a very sweet romance.

Acting/Cast: The chemistry between ML and FL is surprisingly good. Both are exceptionally funny, and all their interactions are hilarious. Both actors did a tremendous job portraying their roles. You will start loving both of them in no time, from the first episode. I didn't care about the other supporting characters. But all did very well in their roles. Overall, the Acting and Cast were very good for a low-budget drama.

Music: Nothing too special, but good enough. The background music was on point and OST was also good.

Rewatch Value: A good rewatch value. A funny drama, so if you feel like watching something funny to spend some time, you can rewatch it.

Ratings: 9/10 from me (maybe a bit high). I wanted to give it more as I genuinely loved it. But, that's the max rating I should give.

I recommend this drama. I hope, the viewers give this drama a chance. This drama will be a funny and enjoyable watch for you.

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What can I say ? THE BEST !!!!! FUN & WARM

I'm not a person to write reviews but i can't resist myself from writing this one !!!! I can't express how much I love this drama. I regret watching this too late. But yeah it was the remedy of my illness !! It's been long since I binged a drama like this one !! I totally loved it !! If you're a fan of SLICE OF LIFE , FRIENDSHIP SQUAD, CRAZINESS IN FRIENDSHIP, SLOW ROMANCE WITH EXCELLENT CHEMISTRY, CUTE FATHER CHILD BONDING, then just goo and watch!! the actors did such a great job and obviously the production gawdd 🤌🏻 everything is chef kiss for me !!! IF I COULD DESCRIBE THIS DRAMA IN ONE WORD - my COMFORT !!! SO PLEASE DON'T MISS THIS ...

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Learning to Appreciate, Forgive and Love Deeply. + Preserve and Protect our Oceans!

I will never get tired of saying how heartwarming, inspiring and genuine Japanese dramas are. They always got this magic in their crafts that will make you so emotionally attached to it no matter which genre you are into... I guess they just understand human emotions and feelings the best, huh?

Right off the bat, I wanna say that this drama felt restricted... Like they could've added more to it but chose to limit it for some unknown reasons. I probably got used to heavily plotted dramas but I just know when something is needed or not and I would say this drama could've been more eventful and exciting if they added little more tweaks to its overall plot.

I badly want to expand my thoughts about this drama so please allow me to share some of them.

Plot - Overall plot is good but improvements can still be provided left and right. I feel like they got caught up with other side plots (3 Brothers affairs) and consumed lots of episodes that should've been focused on our main leads; does making the story vulnerable to plot holes and felt lacking in terms of story progression.

Twist - I always feel like there's a missing piece when it comes to this drama's overall story structure. Like, something is inadequate and it could've been better if they give more 'drama' to the FLs character. I mean, she's a mermaid and they could very well expound onto that to make it more interesting and exciting, at least.

Editing and production... I got serious problems with this, honestly. Most of the time, I felt like they were throwing sequences randomly to the point where it just doesn't fit at all. God knows how many times I find it weird that a scene or two are being included in a completely unrelated moment. Which are very awkward to me!

Chemistry is a perfection for me— aside from the fact that Ayano Go and Ishihara Satomi look equally beautiful and handsome; there's just more to them that's beyond our eyes can see and perceive. Something that can only be seen when you indulge yourself on the way they carry themselves into their roles. Their Drive and Passion to be 'in-character' is insane!

Color scheme, texture and mood - I was in genuine peace while watching and appreciating this dramas beach scenes. I just love how fresh, tranquil and cozy it made me feel as viewer. Very relaxing and accomodating.

Second Couple and 3 Brothers Plot - Both are really interesting to watch and I'm just glad they didn't add anymore dramas to the 'Brothers' plot cause I feel like they just had enough. LOL! and I'm also satisfied on how they wrap things up for the 2nd Couple. No more escalated dramas and rather ended it in a more mature and receptive way.

P.S. I feasted so much whenever Ayano Go's acting giddy, nervous and child-like. It gave more colors to his character and I just find him super cute and adorable during those scenes.

Story - 9.0, I wanna rate this drama higher but I just can't ignore a lot of missed opportunities they could've took advantage of to make it more eventful and dramatic. + The awkward and misplaced sequence editing made this drama stood out like a sore thumb for me.

Acting/Cast - 9.5, Main Casts, specially Ayano Go and Ishihara Satomi were such a stellar actor and actress. The way they execute their roles emotionally made me admire them a lot and will tell you how invested they're in their respective characters. The only disappointments I have are with the supporting roles who acts ridiculous and simply baseless. Like they were added for plot twist and nothing else.

Music - 9.0, I only heard 1 music in this drama. Well, aside from the casual melodies and sounds used to set the mood and to add color to the scenes... So, I'd say they could've added more but for me it was just enough. I wasn't bothered and never felt like it was lacking.

Rewatch Value - 8.0, It took me 2 years to finally watch it and I wanna say that it deserves the wait. Hahaha! I never feel like watching it again honestly. I was only here for Ishihara Satomi but I'm just grateful to have finally watched it because I got to know Ayano Go in the process.

Overall - 9 0, I have a lot 'what ifs' for this drama and up till this moment, I still feel regretful that the director didn't fully utilized the set of spectacular actors they got to make this drama great. Not to mention how lacking the script and how random the editing was. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed watching this story and I appreciate the warmth and passion it gave me.

IF you find my review helpful please let me know.

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Entertaining!

I don't write reviews that often, but I really wanted to this time. I know some people are mad that there are so many high profile athletes who came here for 'stupid' quests (their word, not mine) like carrying sand bags. I am not bothered by that at all.

So far, every quest seemed balanced enough for me and advantageous enough for both men and women. During the 1 on 1 battles, it was their choice, even if it man versus female. And sometimes men won, sometimes women won. When holding onto the bar or holding the rope, things were balanced. Everyone held onto their own weight. There wasn't any disadvantage and I liked that.

Now, with the third quest, it's a bit bothersome, cause it does seem like something bulky men would get done faster. Yet, it's not the first time the underdogs turned the game upside down. And that's just so great to see happening!

I like the production and the editing is good. It might only be me (cause I do tend to watch game shows a lot), but by the editing I can always tell who is gonna win and who is gonna lose (I literally predicted every winning team by that during the sand bag task).

The cast is entertaining, even though sometimes the men can be irritating, especially the way they look down on whoever is not as bulky or doesn't have thighs as thick as them. It's a bit tiring and really makes you wanna root for the underdogs and not for the top stars and favorites. I honestly hope a woman or an underdog wins. I really hope that the ending will show that not brute strength means being the best, but having a combo of strength, balance, endurance and agility. And some brains along the way.

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Exciting and action packed military crime drama with a very light romance element

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2022 South Korean military action drama with 16, 60 minute episodes

First I will provide a synopsis then review

Synopsis
A tragic "accident" takes the lives of Do Bae-man's (Ahn Bo-hyun) parents as a young child and he is raised by his aunt. Not wanting anything to do with the military because of its association and reminder of his parents, he drops out of school in middle school which makes him ineligible for mandatory military service. He becomes a lawyer though and applies to many law firms. No-one is interested because of his educational history. Despair sets in and an offer he cannot refuse comes along from Yong Moon-goo (Kim Young-min) who tells him if he serves as a military prosecutor for five years he will hire him in his private law firm once he finishes the military stint. What Doberman (nickname) does not know is Young-min is closely associated with Major General Noh Hwa-young (Oh Yeon-soo) who is evil and corrupt. She is the first female to rise to such ranks and got there through nefarious means. Additionally she owns a defense company she acquired through her criminal activity. As Doberman approaches the end of his enlistment and prepares to join the private law firm, Cha Woo-in (Jo Bo-ah), joins his command. Some of her actions immediately capture Doberman's interest and he knows there is more to her than the by the book outstanding military prosecutor she portrays. It is not long before he discovers she was the heir to a conglomerate and leads a double life as "red wig woman." In her other persona, Woo-in seeks justice against corruption where acting outside of the law is the only way to capture the bad guys. Over time, Doberman comes to realize she has very personal reasons for going after Noh Hwa-young and that they have connections and reasons to work together.
Review
It is very exciting when the "red wig" lady takes down the bad guys. Her martial arts prowess is super hero level. Doberman is also a formidable force but the red wig lady is a level above him. If you like action and exciting fight scenes then this would be an appeal. The central conflict is very heavy on the good versus evil. And the lines between good and evil get blurred frequently. The characters were all very well developed and there wee some redemption arcs. There was a love triangle and a hear warming bromance. The back story on what happened in their past was very interesting. I enjoyed this show from start to finish and would highly recommend it. I read before I watched it not to be off put by the title. And I have to agree it is not some overly serious series with some by the book military prosecutor where you watch case after case of them towing the military line. The nickname doberman has more to do with how the main character's name sounds than a central part of his personality. It is mentioned and he does compare himself to attributes but he is a way more complex character than that and he is one of the characters on a redemption arc.

Spoilers*
There were some minor things that I felt could have been improved that kept this from being perfect to me. For me, they danced around the romance between Woo-in and Bae-man the entire series. It made sense early on that wasn't a focus but I was expecting more to develop with it after they were on the winning end of their conflict. But they literally wait until the fade out scene for them to kiss and you cannot even fully see their kiss as it is behind a tree and the camera both fades and moves out of the scene. If you are not a romantic or do not like series where romance is a central aspect, that would be a plus. As someone who enjoys the romance, it was disappointing that they waited that lone to show that they would be together then gave us so little of them as a couple. I was disappointed that Doberman was such a money driven prosecutor in the beginning. And there was no really good reason for it. He wasn't aware of what happened with his parents so it wasn't like well the whole system is corrupt so I might as well be. That wasn't the reason. The only reason seemed to be he quit school early to avoid becoming a soldier because of what happened to his parents and then it impacted his ability o get a job as a lawyer under normal conditions. Even so I could have seen him talking that offer he couldn't refuse but he didn't seem to have any moral issues with it. They tried to show he had remorse over that after she "changed" him but there was no basis for him to be like that in the beginning. Because he had no believable reason for being a corrupt prosecutor it did not make sense when he changed because of her. A big deal was made out of him learning about how his parents died and who was responsible but then, in the end, he did not have the moment with his parents where it was like "see I got them" like they had with Woo-in. It was like it bothered him just not overly so. His Aunt's relationship with his superior was cute and unexpected but the redemption arc for his superior was missing. They implied that his aunt changed him, and had him acting more like a "military prosecutor" but it was very brief and not well developed in that regard and it was hard to believe his moral to a fault aunt would have accepted a man that had any level of corruption. CEO Kang had feelings for Woo-in and was part of a very obvious love triangle but they did not dive into that at all which is a factor of them just not focusing much at all on the romance. I liked CEO Kang and felt like making him have enough wrong doing that he gave up his company in the end and just went off to start over was disappointing. Winning would have been like his company was restored. No Tae-Nam (Kim Woo-seok) had a huge redemption arc going from an evil character to one of the heroes of the day by taking down even his own mother to root out the evil. There was the whole story with Tae-nam and the bullying and abuse that was going on, on the front line. One of the characters was set up to make his military life hell but that became such a minor scene that the build up was disappointing. There was also sexual abuse occurring and a point was made of focusing on that as part of the "hell" going on in those front lines but it was never brought up again. It would have helped to explain why the soldier snapped. It was also an opportunity to show how Doberman had fully changed in that he could have showed some empathy for the soldier that snapped by allowing his mother to give him the glasses but he didn't and it was Woo-in who showed that glimmer of mercy. They could also have had his sentenced reduced and not pursued the death penalty in acknowledgement of the horrible abuse that soldier suffered. Life in prison seemed a more fitting sentence than death and it would have been more in line with being a moral prosecutor. Tae-nam mentioned several times how his Doberman was like his only family so for him to give his dog up, when he actually could have used the support for his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was out of character for him and unfortunate they did not use that as part of Tae-nam's redemption arc - that he never gave up on "family." He even volunteered to work with dogs so it would have been more logical he got his dog back. I wanted to see them more in action as military prosecutors the show was so focused on central conflict that there were no interesting side stories that gave that "slice of life" of being a military prosecutor. I am going to circle back though and say despite all of this it was a very good and exciting series with an interesting and unique premise.

#MilitaryProsecutorDoberman
#AhnBoHyun
#JoBoAh
#KimWooSeok

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Breath the same air as I Miss U (2012), the story is not exactly the same, but it has more or less the same vibe. About a guy who lost his fiancee in an accident and then began a new relationship; the fiancee, who was already a ghost, couldn't accept it, so there's clash between the guy's current lover and the fiancee's ghost.

I gotta say, I like this film better, surely at the beginning I came for the horror, but as time goes on, this film leaning more into romance and drama, and I like that.
Junchu and Sansan's relationship was not harmonious before because Junchu could not move on from Manli (the fiancee) and there was a disappointment because his mother lied to him about her illness so he would get married, but over time it developed into a sweet and heartfelt relationship (just not imagine it to be as good as those good romancce film); compared to I Miss U, which stay in the horror's path but trying to be melodramatic, so the feelings can't really hits because they keep trying to scare.

The horror, Fan BingBIng mostly appeared in her human form, pretty. When they try to make her creepy, the film is already overwhelmed with emotion, so she's becoming not scary. That doesn't mean she's an insignificant character tho, she's pretty much the one who helped Junchu and Sansan to be harmonious, she also looks friendly at first but later she can't accept seeing them happy (I really like her gaze from the attic), so she tries to get Junchu back and that's mean by becoming an evil ghost.

I'm glad that Sansan and Junchu had a chance to smile happily together before the film ends for good.

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