Reviews

super cute! but not a great adaptation. [very long]

i'm currently re-reading the manga for the first time in about 10 years. i was thinking "the only thing missing about this is a 2000s jdrama adaptation that takes itself way too seriously" and i stumbled upon this. so allow me to make a couple comments:

1. as a lolita myself, the amount of btssb all over this movie had me close to fainting. i saw a girl holding an usakumya plush and then i look up at her face and see that it's MISAKO MF AOKI HERSELF. i couldn't find the name of the dress akira wears to sneak into the girls' school (i'm not as familiar with btssb/aatp catalog as i am with angelic pretty) but i DID see that baby collabed with pullip to produce a doll of him??? insane collector's piece i fear it's on my lolita grail list right next to milky-chan the fawn jsk. i adored seeing so much of this fashion that's so near and dear to my heart. however, i do still kind of wish that more masculine looking women had been cast to play blaue rosen.........the manga makes quite a point that mizuki is often mistaken for and treated as if she's a man, and while the actress cast to play her was very cute and expressive, i really don't find that she fit the bill appearance wise. however, i do find that akira's actor was quite well cast, he's decently androgynous-looking for the role and i think he pulled it off well. he also looks great in a jsk and otk socks lmao.

2. if you're looking for a faithful adaptation to the manga, this is not it. i kept waiting and waiting on the topic of kaoru moving overseas and the band breaking up to become a topic, since this is quite literally what propels the plot in the manga. kaoru moving away is the driving force that brings akira to mizuki in the first place, which then leads to the plot of him joining the band as their new vocalist. like i'm actually shocked that out of all the parts of this movie that were faithful to the manga, the primary plot of the entire story was completely omitted. i'd understand taking out some parts for time constraints, but i feel like SO much of the story was changed that it doesn't exactly feel recognizable. if you're okay with viewing it as it's own separate media independent of the manga, then go ahead. but if you want a good adaptation, maybe skip it.

3. i find that compared to the manga, many parts of the story were quite sanitized for a lower age rating. for example, in the scene where ran discovers mizuki is a girl, the manga has him jumping on her and tearing her clothes open quite violently. whereas in the film, i believe it's a bit of an ouran situation of him accidentally feeling her chest. seeing as the film is much more comedic in tone than the manga which takes itself quite seriously, i can see why this was done, and i do appreciate it a bit for being more tasteful than the manga. there's actually quite a bit of sexual theming and serious topics such as assault/harassment in the manga (seeing as the target demographic is adult women rather than teens or young girls), so the choice to omit these for a light-hearted romcom feels more appropriate and respectful than if it hadn't been.

in conclusion, i really did love this movie, it was really cute and fun and sweet and the music blaue rosen played in universe is exactly what i pictured while reading the manga! that being said, the manga is MUCH different in tone, and while i'd advise to use discretion regarding the topics of sexual harassment and such, it really is a great read. i'd strongly recommend it to anyone who's a fan of josei romance like nana or paradise kiss. i feel like it's one from its era that tends to get overlooked quite a bit.

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Cute but plot holes are frustrating.

I must frankly say, that this drama was cute, very light as a school drama and I really appriciated the dynamics between the main leads. The kisses surprised me (because Korean dramas rarely have REAL kisses) and were a nice touch to the overall feel.

However, the plot suffers from plot holes and I couldn't stand it. I was confused most of the time when it came to the story outside the romance, I couldn't really wrap my head around the logic behind it all.
It kinda bugged me that some things were just left... unsaid? (I just found out that this is a spin-off to "A breeze of love"???) I honestly thought it was based off of a manhwa, that's why it felt kinda rushed but it seems not? It's illogical just as it is.

I recommend this series if you need to turn off your thinking and enjoy a nice, warm romance. It's really good when you don't pay attention to how it all works 😭

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Good pacing. No idiotic plot. Clean, simple, enjoyable.

I have no notes. GMMTV has been a bit of a flop for me lately and nothing has been hitting the spot so I didn't have much of a high expectation coming into MRS. Suffice to say all my expectations were blown out of the window.
While the plot might not be anything that'll blown you away with plot twists or never seen before concept, it's comforting in its simplicity and very well executed story.

The series was well-paced, every episode was filled with content, stories and some sufficient romantic scenes without abandoning the overarching plot. There's no idiotic Gmmtv ep11 curses, no nuisance dramatic misunderstanding plot for the sake of drama. This is not one of those shows where lack of communication and dramas bottle up and overboard till everything explode at the very end and then quickly scramble up some resolution in the end. The writer utilized all 12 eps to craft a moving, funny and content-packed story. While some of the character's background might not be relatable, their struggles, weaknesses and growth are something I think MANY viewers (especially Asians) will find very relatable.

Characters' chemistries are good, although admittedly I care more about the main couple (TimPai) compared to the secondary couple (YuNorth). YuNorth's actors performances felt a bit stiff at times and take some viewing to ease into, but generally still didn't tamper the series for me. I have to commend Pai's actor specifically. His acting truly was the star of the show for me, he performed well on some of the more difficult or emotional scene of the show that truly sell the plot and story to the viewers.
Additionally, I also enjoy some details about Thai Chinese' cultures that's woven into the series thanks to Pai's family background.

This show quickly becomes one of my top 5 favorite series from GMMTV. Not because it's an extraordinary 'never seen before' concept, but because they took a concept that works well, and worked it well. Good execution, enjoyable, funny, with good chemistry and generally good acting.

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FL Was Like a Robot With No Personality.

I started watching this after bad luck with picking dramas. I'd paused another drama to watch this. I should have sticked with it. In terms of character and personality I think Sword and Brocade lacks it. The FL was very stiff and mechanical. Her smile seemed fake. I've seen the actress in other dramas and she's acted better there.

I also had an issue with how they didn't age the FL up from fifteen to eighteen. I kept thinking about it and it grossed me out. I realise they were going for a degree of historical accuracy and most women married soon after their hairpinning ceremony at 15 (which was really 13-14 because they were classed 1 upon birth and became1 year older on every New Year). I think the tipping point that really got me to stop was the bedroom scene after marriage. The music made it out to be a joke...

Don't get me wrong, from what I saw there's no sexual assault in this on camera. It's just the situation really didn't need that music. It would have worked better if the scene was shorter with what takes place hurried along for the viewer to see with different music. I just feel the scene could have worked so much better now I'm writing this review. It could have had a completely different feel and epic music to accompany it.

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Came for Perth and wasn’t disappointed by this Rom com.

I came here for Perth who I felt carried Perfect 10 Liners where he played a sullen lad with a huge heart (I loved how he growled Bee-gan menacingly at his boyfriend) and stayed for this lighter, more sunny character.

The plot opens when Ae (played by Perth) literally and figuratively poleaxes Pete (played by Saint) when he runs him over with his bicycle. As they untangle themselves from the wheels something subtle is started and as the drama continues we watch them take their tentative first steps into becoming the love of each others’ lives.

Along the way we also meet several other heavy hitters and watch as their characters grow within the show and between themselves.

I especially loved the scene where Pete admits he’s gay to his mother and the vulnerability and love they share is so powerful it had me clapping by the end. Bravo script writers. (They also included a timid one liner related to anal s*x preparation that Pete used on their first night in bed together not an expected topic (at all!) but I found it’s inclusion rather refreshing and kinda cute TBH).

The other plot lines were also great and I felt the final scene of Tin losing his shit in the shower was a perfect ending. Whilst I felt bad for his character it shows how flawed and hurtful young love can be and that life really isn’t fair.

As a side note, if you’re looking for this plot to roll seamlessly into the second series you’ll be sorely disappointed and while I get that Saint’s schedule didn’t allow for him to be in it there was so many better ways they could have written his absence but didn’t - instead they took the lazy option. I’ve already reviewed S2 so go check that out before watching.

Would I watch this again? Possibly but there’s so many more on my ‘plan to watch’ list.

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Some dramas entertain you… others stay with you.

Phantom Lawyer is one of those rare stories that blends quirkiness with quiet emotion. It’s not just about solving cases—it’s about understanding people, their pain, and the hidden truths they carry.

The story follows a lawyer who doesn’t quite fit the usual mould. There’s something unusual about the way he approaches cases—almost as if he sees things others don’t. What begins as a series of legal battles slowly unfolds into something deeper, touching on hidden truths, personal struggles, and the idea that justice isn’t always black and white.

What makes this drama stand out is its quirky tone. It blends light humour with moments of introspection, giving even serious situations a unique charm. The characters feel slightly offbeat, yet incredibly human, making their journeys both entertaining and relatable.

At its heart, the drama is about healing and connection. Beneath the legal cases and oddities, it explores loneliness, redemption, and the quiet ways people help each other move forward. These emotional layers give the story a sincerity that lingers long after each episode.

The performances add depth, especially in moments where silence says more than dialogue. Visually, the drama keeps things simple but effective, allowing the storytelling and characters to shine.

If you’re looking for a legal drama that isn’t just about winning cases—but about understanding people—Phantom Lawyer offers a refreshing, heartfelt experience with just the right touch of quirkiness.

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Not bad but not enough

This follows a pretty straight forward revenge plot as the ML assists with multiple cases as an attorney to uncover the truth. It has its usual tropes of everyone and everything just coincidentally tying together, etc. The main highlight in the series is our ML and his character. He's quite charming and the bond between him and his ML partner will bring you plenty of laughs.

The cases the ML handles are individual cases that all ends up tying into the underlying case, which is intentional. The cases aren't very complex but it does highlight some real issues such as cult-like mentalities and taking justice into your own hands when the government is corrupt. He solves them relatively easily but I actually quite appreciate how they incorporate his flashbacks to his past when coming across some victims - the right way to truly empathize.

I would have loved to have continued for the overarching plot but I've become more cynical of female leads these days. And while the FL here isn't the worst I've come across, the heavy switch over to the development of their relationship... really killed the plot flow for me. She's also another one of those hypocritical characters who prides herself to be righteous and bashes on the ML for not using the "right" way to help people. Thankfully she does realize her naivety and ignorance at some point, but this is also when they turn the romance aspect up way too high and way too quickly. Unfortunately, her character is a teetering one for me and I don't really feel the chemistry between the ML and FL. The fact that he's head over heels for her also ended up diminishing his character for me as well.

But for those who are more into the romantic genre, I think you'll definitely enjoy this one more than me.

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Duty Before Blood

Eight Hundred is, at its core, a story about limits. Not the kind you casually brush against, but the kind that force a choice out of you when there is nowhere left to run. Set in a late 90s mining town, the story begins with a seemingly straightforward case that quickly unravels into something far more personal. Police officer Chen Hong Bin notices glass fragments on a victim that point toward a banned drug, and what starts as a routine investigation slowly exposes a trafficking network embedded within the town. The real turning point comes when the shadow behind it all is revealed to be someone closest to him. From there, the drama shifts into something more intimate and painful, a moral tug-of-war between duty and blood.

The premise already tells you how this will end. Not the exact details, but the direction. Once you understand Hong Bin’s rigid sense of justice, there is no illusion of a miraculous escape. The question is never if, but how heavy the cost will be. The drama plays this out as a prolonged cat and mouse game between Hong Bin and his son, Chen Hui. Hong Bin relentlessly pushes forward, following every lead with almost mechanical persistence, while Hui does everything he can to stay one step ahead. Hui’s descent begins with something almost understandable. Together with his girlfriend Gao Song Ge, he enters the drug trade to pay for her medical treatment. They are not framed as inherently bad people, just desperate and naive enough to believe they can control the scale of their actions. Like many tragedies, it starts with a small compromise that quietly snowballs into something irreversible.

That said, the execution of this cat and mouse dynamic can feel repetitive. The structure often loops: Hong Bin closes in, Hui narrowly escapes, and the story resets before building tension again. It works in maintaining suspense, but at times it feels like running on a treadmill rather than moving forward. Each near discovery could have shifted the stakes more meaningfully, but instead the narrative occasionally retreats into familiar territory. It is engaging in theory, but the impact softens when the progression does not match the intensity of the premise.

The investigation itself walks a fine line between satisfying and frustrating. There are moments where Hong Bin’s methods reflect a classic investigative mindset, such as when he painstakingly pieces together scattered styrofoam fragments. It echoes that old idea that no detail is too small. However, the narrative does not always justify why certain clues deserve that level of focus. When this reconstruction points toward Hui, it feels less like a solid breakthrough and more like a conclusion driven by suspicion. At times, it seems as if Hong Bin is working backward from a belief he already holds, rather than building toward it with airtight logic. It does not ruin the experience, but it does chip away at the credibility of the investigative process.

Where the drama truly finds its weight is in its characters and their choices. I found myself siding with Hong Bin, even knowing how unforgiving that stance is. He is a man who was a cop before he was anything else, and that identity defines every decision he makes. There is something both admirable and unsettling about how unwavering he is. He does not bend, not even for his own son. In a world that often negotiates with morality, Hong Bin feels almost anachronistic, like a relic of a stricter era that refuses to soften. What surprised me most was not that he pursued Hui, but how little hesitation he ultimately showed in doing so.

Hui, on the other hand, is a character who crosses lines one by one until there is nothing left to defend. At first, his actions feel redeemable within a certain moral lens. But the turning point comes when he chooses violence not out of desperation, but intent. His plan to kill Luo Yan, and later his involvement in orchestrating it through Huo Kai Ming, marks a shift into darker territory. The final nail is the death of Tian Jin Hai. What could have been self defense spirals into something far more brutal, and from that moment on, Hui becomes someone you can no longer excuse. Framing Liu Na afterward only deepens that fall. That decision feels particularly cruel, not just because of what it represents legally, but because of the personal betrayal behind it.

Episode 15 stands out for how raw it feels. It strips everything down to a simple but uncomfortable question: what do people choose when given the chance to do right or wrong? The drama does not dress this up with spectacle. It leans into the quiet tension of decision-making, and that is where it resonates most. It is less about plot twists and more about whether characters will make the right choice when it actually matters. In that sense, it reflects reality in a way that is almost unsettling. Crime here is not abstract, it is the direct result of accumulated decisions.

By the time the ending arrives, it does exactly what it promises. There is no dramatic escape, no last minute miracle. It stays grounded. Episode 20 is emotional not because it shocks you, but because it follows through. Watching a father send his own son to prison while still holding onto that bond is quietly devastating. Xu Kai delivers what is easily his strongest performance here. The moment Hui looks back at his parents while being taken away lingers longer than any plot twist could.

Visually, the drama does a commendable job capturing its setting. While some sets lean slightly theatrical, the overall aesthetic works. The costumes and makeup help sell the time period, and the attention to detail in the characters’ appearances adds authenticity. Hui’s tanned complexion and Song Ge’s frail, sickly look subtly reinforce their circumstances without needing explicit dialogue.

In the end, Eight Hundred is a compelling character study wrapped in a crime narrative. As an investigation drama, it falls short in consistency and progression. But as a story about choices, consequences, and the fragile line between right and wrong, it lands with impact. It may not be airtight, but it is thought-provoking in a way that stays with you after the final episode.

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how can a short show be this meaningful

I start this show because I love my journey to you so I started to watch other this director work and honestly this doesn’t disappoint me . It’s short but there is a whole story in it . I love this director work . He always add some amazing phrase in it here ^ no one is innocent in this world ^ . I can’t wait to watch his other work. This Wuxia show is well written for it 37 minutes long . it’s hard for me to explain it as my understanding because of my poor English. This show is mainly about the person who was treated as tool forever finally feel important and get treated as a person for the first time in so long .

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Jumvengers, assemble!

I havent come across a show that could make me laugh my heads off and then sob in the next minute since A Dream Within a Dream, until Salon de Holmes came along my feed. I was laughing my heads off with tears in my eyes on Ep 2, then shed quite a bit of tears before 10minutes in, so much that I immediately declared Jung Young Joo to be my new favourite korean actress after Lee Siyoung. Heck this is also my first Lee Siyoung’s show that her character didnt become my most favourite one, cuz hers here was sleuth instead of a full on martial fighter.

The show tells the story of 4 women in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s who met each other in a mall hostage incident where they ended up solving the mistress mystery of the gunwoman. Forming a group of friendly neighbourhood sleuths to pass their time, the first case being a simple parking hoarder gradually escalated into a more serious case with each episode, that eventually led them to Gong Miri’s childhood nightmare, the serial killer, Ribbon Man.

This is the first show of Lee Siyoung’s that I saw of her taking up a cheerful, classic clumsy housewife role with no martial ability. All the past roles that i saw of her are cold and reserved women with fighting ability. This Gong Miri role gave me a different perspective of Lee Siyoung’s talent that i never expected of. She was really good at playing Gong Miri that I stopped seeing her as the boxer Lee Siyoung. She really nailed this role that depicts of a housewife who has a rare talent at sniffing clues and deducing mysteries, yet also struggling to handle her in-laws while being frustrated at her husband who’s having problem in the bedroom chores, like how she did her other shows.

Although I liked Gong Miri, i loved Jung Youngjoo’s Chu ‘The Hulk’ Gyeongja even more! Becoming a housewife when she was at the rising stride of her policewoman career was the hard choice she had to make in order to make concessions for her then mentee turned husband upon her retirement. Her husband had been her subordinate when she was in the force, but his low self-esteem never dwindled even after she left, hence he never stopped putting her down when they were around his subordinates. Chu generally plays along but when he pushed her buttons too hard, she had no qualms to turn to violence, which usually puts her husband back in his place cuz he is no match for her strength.

I really love the flow of the plot that gradually escalated from petty parking fights and garbage owner tracking to decade-long serial killer hunt. The writers are also really brilliant at incorporating comedic scenes into sob scenes then goes directly to thrillers. I also love the fact that the lives of the housewives is depicted to be closest to normal daily life with partriachal husbands to bedroom problems to the schoolchildren’s bullying cancer which many viewers can relate to.

The fightings are really good and they definitely did not spare an effort to make our main characters bruise and bleed, or even crack a bone or two for our retired police officer. I miss seeing Le Siyoung fight though, cuz she did none in here. Okay she’s got a few clumsy brawls but that’s just about it, no fancy martial art moves other than those executed by Jung Youngjoo’s Chu ‘The Hulk’ Gyeongja. Like, for real, it is truly mindblowing to know that Jung’s age had been 53 when she filmed the show. All her moves were powerful and she definitely didnt look like someone in her 50s 🤯 This is one of the few things that I admire about kdrama industry - they do not give a qualm about hiring actresses at veteran age as main lead. This is definitely not the first kdrama that I saw above 50yo actress taking up the lead helm. Truly inspiring.

This show definitely did not disappoint and I can’t wait for season 2!

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ONE OF TGE BEST SERIES GMM HAVE EVER MADE

after reading the novel, i was worried abt the CGI. the last time i saw gmm did a great CGI was way back YEARS ago, thru The Gifted. after that, gmm declined a bit (i guess it's bc they dont releass much fantasy series anymore) but then WU came.

To whoever brought P’wa, the writer, the one who also produced The Gifted before and Parbdee who is a powerhouse in terms of production wise, together, is definitely a genius. + SKYNANI who are great actors, jinjja actors that can ACT. GMM just made the right decision to combined them all and we all are seeing the results.

I'm so excited for the next scenes on how they will delivered it, coz watching EP1, i knew i dont have to worry about anything.

Skynani, you deserve this. Not because you two are my mains, but you two are hardworking actors and one of the most talented artists from tye company.

I’m so so so proud of you two.

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