Reviews

what it means to love and be loved

while watching part 1 I kept thinking how much it reminded me of the story of minglan. lo and behold I come to find the author of the novel this drama is based on is the same as that of the story of minglan. so so if you liked that, you'll like this and vice versa.

that being said, this drama is a slice of life with a government plot line in a romance story. I say slice of life because its a really good view on what it meant to walk through life in the period the story takes place. as such it takes on a thicker overall tone compared to many other Chinese dramas.

this is only the first half of the drama, and it beautifully shows you these characters who - even if they aren't shown frequently - all clearly have a rich history in their life that have contributed to how they become as individuals. the overall theme is essentially love. both having it and the lack thereof; both giving it and withholding it.

the characters develope with every anecdote, every family crisis, and every national event and the changes are subtle but of have weight. what I appreciate is that even though the characters change and grow, they don't feel as though they have become different people - they are still very much themselves.

while our main character is "not like other girls" she is still clearly flawed. and no, not flawed because she's uneducated and basically illiterate. even with an education she would probably still be a trouble maker, as its clear she has a perfect blend of both her parents traits. it's a good contrast to minglan, who was docile and secretly a genius at scheming. niao niao is quite intelligent herself, but extremely outspoken and quite ill mannered.

yall just gotta watch this drama.

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Even great for non math lovers!

Yes all that math goes over my head but the story is genuinely heart warming with so many likeable characters.

Best part for me is the Dad in both worlds (with or with out that rock star hair) & if you love father daughter relationships this will definitely be a must watch.
Ep 1-9 were most people's favorite episodes because the kid actors are so good & darling, worth rewatching.
Ep 28-34 picked up at the end for a nice ending and a hint of romance

Few flaws:
After EP 10:
Adult Lin Zhao Xi didn't have the same tenacity other than a few scenes.
Cheese world Pei Zhi wasn't happy as his father described so definitely they should've matched the characters a bit better.

Overall a great drama out of the ordinary and might help you reflect on life & relationships.

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Amazing cast, story, message

This drama is hard to describe in just one or two words, it mixes a lot of genres(soap opera, satire, melodrama, mystery). So I'll just list what it has to offer:
-A cast of colorful, dysfunctional, and likeable characters
-A satiric yet so true view on society, not just rich people
-A melodramatic story with lords and servants set in modern times
-A peacock
-Women changing dresses several times during episodes, always looking stunning
-Great acting and production value
-Sad and tense moments mixed with comic relief
-A good mystery that keeps you guessing
-LGBT representation and feminist message

If you like these things watch it and have fun like I did!

My favorite character was actually Min-su, partly for her clever personality, partly for amazing job from the actress who can make soo many facial expressions, some comic, some tragic, but you could always guess what she's thinking about and it was so great! I love that actress tbh(Park Sung-Yun).

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"Life is an unknown course"

Like the languid lapping of the waves against the shore near the quiet fishing village in this film, Director Ozu brings a gentle rhythm to the past meeting the present and directing the future currents for the people involved. Komajura and his troupe of traveling actors will find their lives changed as they navigate their circumstances and decisions in this remote place.

Komajura is an aging actor with a less than successful acting troupe. He readily admits their Kabuki plays are not very good. Most of the players have only known the stage for most of their lives. In the sweltering heat of the day, they form a small parade in their costumes as they enter the village, handing out fliers. Some of the men seek out the prettiest women in town to invite to the play. Komajura seeks out an older woman and her 19-year-old son, Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi is actually Komajura's son, but only knows him as an uncle for Komajura doesn't want his son to have a poor actor for a father. Komajura's current mistress, Sumiko, becomes enraged when she finds out about his devotion to his secret family and hires one of the girls in the troupe, Kayo, to seduce the dutiful Kiyoshi setting into motion a wave of changes.

Though Floating Weeds has a romance with the young lovers, the main focus of the story is Komajura as the tides in his life change. He faces the loss of his troupe, his lover, and his son. He lashes out in fury in some of the most violent scenes I've seen in an Ozu film. He is forced to deal with his lack of control over his life circumstances and other people. Eventually, he comes to accept where he is in his life and what his relationships have come to be and that his loved ones will make their own decisions about their lives which he may not agree with. Many of the characters must decide who and where they want to be.

There are two scenes where Komajura becomes violent with the women who crossed him and his son. Though this male dominance may have been acceptable in 1959, it is jolting in this present time and incredibly offensive, making Komajura less sympathetic as he seeks to control the people around him through force. As with all Ozu films, the acting is normally quite restrained, making these outbursts all the more difficult to absorb.

The film itself is a beautifully staged and shot film. Ozu's scenic frames tell a story in and of themselves. They are contemplative, quiet, familiar, giving the characters and the audience room to think and breathe. Many of his frames would make incredible still lifes. His red tea kettle makes an appearance in the barber shop! In a powerful scene, Komajura and Sumiko have it out during a rainstorm. Each stands on the opposite side of the street, unwilling to budge, unwilling to move closer or get wet, unwilling to see the problem from the other's point of view. The words are vicious as the water pours down. Later, in a subtle bit of acting near the end in a train station, the same two actors drop their walls ever so slightly to let the other in as cigarettes are lit and forgiveness is given.

This film is a remake of his silent film, The Story in the Floating Weeds which I have yet to see as the film has no English subtitles. Floating weeds refers to itinerant actors. There were few weeds in this film, if I have any complaints, the movie did begin to feel long as some of the problems were dragged out and it felt as if some scenes could have been trimmed. Most of the acting was absorbing with the exception of the actor who played Kiyoshi. This young actor gave a rather wooden performance.

Ozu was a master of making family concerns and life decisions go from simple to complex to simply masterful. Though this film was not completely centered in a home, Komajura's family both biological and extended family with the troupe was explored. Ozu never ventures far from home and hearth, simply showing us different views of it. There is something comforting in his movies, we come to know the people and their struggles, their strengths and weaknesses, sometimes even see ourselves in them as they try to make the best of their lives. Komajura tells his old lover, "Life is an unknown course." The longer we live, the more these words resonate.

2/7/23

Edit—I have since watched and reviewed the original silent film.

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Tape Eodisseo

The whole drama is about "Tape eodisseo" thats all I can say. Please don't watch if you watched the airplane scene and it seemed interesting, its a click bait lmao. While watching the drama I was like um tf bro.

Like honestly I guess the drama overall was okay (even though I wouldn't actively recommend it to anyone) and I am just salty about the airplane scene because all she sees is the black shadows and not actual ghosts.


The ending was neither good nor bad. It was an okay ending, nothing happy or suprising seeing the setting of a human and grim reaper so it is what it is. You can watch this if you have nothing left to watch.

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Potential great love story however cheapened by its main theme on sexual drive!

FL and ML has their first sex experience in their high school day. The experience created and impact for both of them.
In adulthood, FL didn’t have much success in love and life, she met the ML again who was having trouble with his male libido. ML’s libido to him was also equivalent to his creativity. So as a writer, he was in despair when he lost his writing ability due to his lost of libido. However when FL came into the scene, ML found his miracle cure, where he was able to regain his sexual arousal. So subsequently the few episodes were about ML trying to convince FL to have physical intimacy and sex with him. Which she gave in eventually. In this drama, FL was portrayed as a ‘push over’, giving in to ML’s advances and requests again and again. After she gave in to him and had sex with him, which she was still unable to set clear boundaries and resulting in her wondering was she just a sex object. Deep inside, FL seems to love ML previously or/and was once emotionally hurt by him (in high school, she couldn’t understand why after she gave her virginity to him), he abandoned her. As adult, she tried to act mature and cool about the matter but still deeply curious and drawn to ML as she was in high school.
There was another matured SML who was gentle and respectful to FL and took interest in her. But yet ultimately we know that she chooses to stay with ML because she accepted ML’s term of loving her is via physical connection (or sex). Partly she is flattered that she is the only women that can aroused him and maintain his sexual desire/needs. So they end up staying together and be happy in the moment.

What I dislike:
Normalizing woman to be a ‘push over’ and sex object to man. Allowing woman to be a victim to man’s fantasy.
Suggesting that it’s acceptable to allow a man to act on his sexual drive to manipulate a woman through her emotional vulnerability and love for him.
Dehumanizing man to a state only being driven by sexual drive and needs.

What I like
The actors/actress acting were natural and believable in their roles.
ML’s character is uniquely designed and he is not really like all man, one can see a mild autistic traits presented. And as FL learnt and choose to love and accept his flaws, their love is simple and uncomplicated as they meet each others’ needs.
The boldness of the director and script to explore this topic in an open manner.

One need to watch with an open mind or you won’t appreciate it.

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Eventful

I personally gave this show seven stars but even I think that’s too high. Without the actors this show would not be as good.
The story is really eventful and there isn’t a dull moment but that’s not always good. Events are happening back to back and it’s hard to digest the plot. Even when they stretch out an event, three “plot twist” would come up.
My next issue is the romanticization. They romanticized a lot of harmful behaviors and put pushed it away with montages of cute moments. Whenever a character did something wrong, the very next episode they would receive sympathy points.
Besides that I loved the music and cast. They played their roles so well, I genuinely hated half of the characters. If you aren’t triggered easily and like the actors, I would recommend it. A lot went on but I was very entertained the whole time.

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Trust & Suspicion ... what if you get it wrong?

WOW ... this was a very profound movie. Trust and suspicion ... it really is a case of walking on a razor's edge. How can you really know when it is safe to trust ... or when it is best to be suspicious ... and what if you get it wrong ... can you survive that, can you move forward or will you be consumed by rage and possibly contribute its perpetuation on to the lives of others?

This movie really plunged into the depths of these questions and the ensuing rage and despair when it goes wrong ... and if the situation is redeemable / survivable. It is gritty, confronting and very raw ... the way it was filmed, scripted and acted was nothing less than masterful ... it is like you are grabbed and literally thrust into the lives of the characters and forced to being a witness to the unfolding events which were so realistically portrayed and delivered to the screen.

TRIGGER WARNING: confronting rape scene. I had to skip the actual rape scene ... I couldn't just sit there and watch it without doing anything (ノಠ怒ಠ)ノ ... I was so wild about those rotten mongrel b@stards ... they were in positions of trust and are supposed to protect civilians ... not to get pleasure from brutally raping an innocent girl. Where is Sha Qing when you need him ... where is Ryuuk, write those b@stards' names in your Death Note and give them a very slow and excruciating death ... how about that for rage at the abuse of trust.

Hmmm which brings to mind something Orson Scott Card (an American author who wrote Ender's Game) said that really nails the connection between trust, suspicion and rage:

"There's a sort of rage a man feels when he's been deceived where he most trusted. It compares to no other anger."

And in the end, after all has been said and done, what is left ... 🤔 ...
loss, grief, rage, death (yours and/or others) <> forgiveness, relief, moving forward, alive

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Nice movie worth the watch

Not a bad movie. I did enjoy it.

Synopsis- cannot find one on IQIYI or MyDramaList. I will do my best…about a woman who is a model/actress (I assume) who comes from a rich family but has had differences with her father and she leaves home. She has an agent who is a bit eccentric. He signs her with a company to endorse their product. Turns out to be her ex who is in charge. He left her years ago without a word. They reconnect and she finds out that her half sister is behind all her misfortune over the years. That is my synopsis lol.

Storyline - was not bad. It flowed fine. You understood what was happening and the ending was nice if a bit short for my taste. Some parts I felt they could have gone a bit longer to explain. But all in all I liked the story.

Acting/Cast - was not bad. I liked the actors and felt they did not to bad of a job.

Rewatch - yes, I would rewatch this movie. Only wish the ending was a wee bit longer.

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Nevertheless, it's not for me.

The webtoon have realistic and better ending, why the directors changed it?

This drama made me say "stupid girl" like million times.. LOL.

Well, i know in real life many people might have that kind of relationship and make the same choice. But THIS IS DRAMA. I believe a movie or series should give the audience enlightenment, lesson to be learned, motivation, a mirror to ourselves, and all that jazz..
I imagine if some audiences who watched this have the same situation, they'd feel relate, and choosing to go with like FL is only natural.
This drama doesn't teach us to be realistic, the message is "if u love someone just go for it even if u know it's toxic and will screw u later. And yeah, just blow away the good handsome guy who really love u!" or " Listen to your heart, if u love him, go for it, even if he might be a womanizer in disguise" .. 😂😂😂😂

Despite the story line, other things are pretty good, like the cinematography and such. However this could end in 6 episodes instead of 10.

But hey, this is just my personal opinion. If u like it, it's your right.

Nevertheless, it's not for me.

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So far so good

The show has been going pretty good. There hasn't been a lot of evil editing which is pretty good and bolt groups are getting equal screentime(which can change since it’s barely the first episode). I really like the new star system which you grade yourself and then get regraded, I thought it was pretty cute. Also even tho we already know who the centers are and the final grades after the here I am assingment it still fun and you still feel nervous even tho you know the results. The show is going really good and I can’t wait to see how far it goes. I hope all the trainees have a good time and be able to achieve there dreams.(Review can change since it’s barely the first episode)

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Bittersweet Time travel

I must say I didnt expect much going in to this drama. It was an 8 ep korean Bl with 20 mins per episode, I mean what could they even say in this short runtime? I'll say though, it did exceed my expectations. They made great use of the short runtime to tell a pretty full story. The problem is however, most of the time goes into telling the story and not enough time spent on their relationship building. But to be honest, they did the best with what they were given

The actual premise of the show is good. It's fresh and new in the BL scene. Time travel, fight to save someone that saved you, and romance. My only problem is that, the line between jaewoo seeing him as an uncle and then seeing him as a lover seemed so thin it almost makes it hard to support. Like yea that's your savior from 15 years ago and you look up to him and obsessively blame yourself for what happened, but now (very early on) it's turned into love? hm. Then There's Ji hoon's side, we kinda dont really see a smooth progression from him finding Jaewoo really creepy to somehow taking an interest in this kinda creepy man to falling head over heels for him. It just happens, and then you're like oh okay i guess they like each other.

Once the romance is establish by magic and plot convenience though, the story flows well. The bittersweet sacrifice both of them were willing to make for the person that they loved was heart wrenchingly beautiful. It was a story that was meant to end in tragedy no matter what happened. Someone would always die. And so theres the loop they created. "come see me again" oh beautiful. Now my only thing is it's never explained how Jaewoo got into the past in the first place or how the magic phone worked but yknow what, we'll keep it under the rug. All in all, not a bad drama at all. The music, like many kdramas was great to me, and i did enjoy the acting of the characters.

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Absolute Perfection!

Strong bow of thanks to the teams that brought us this series!! I saw a comment that said this show is like “chicken soup for the soul” and I couldn’t agree more. I could watch 100 episodes of it.
Not many cdrama storylines can hold my attention 100% … i tend to fast-forward through sub plots but not this one. I am invested EVERY EPISODE in all the characters, they are each lovely. The kids are adorable and i cherish the scenes they are in … Loving it all so far. UPDATE :: Just finished and it was absolute perfection up to the last note and ending credits. Not a single detail missed - how can I sum up my love for this series!? Tied for my FAVORITE cdrama for sure (with Rise of Phoenix-although completely diff from each other). If you could imagine a story that leaves you so relaxed, as if sitting in the sun on the beach, walking through the cool forest, enjoying a breeze on a bright spring day … it’s that type of vibe. Incredibly lovely, detailed and moving storyline, characters, chemistry.. a lasting lasting impression for sure. I could go ion and on with all the details I loved about it. Truly truly truly deserves a 10 all around.

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