Reviews

Bloody when South Korean gangsters settle scores.

New World is a sometimes bloody thriller that, despite its length, manages to keep the tension up almost the entire way.

When the leader of a large criminal organization dies in a car accident, a power struggle begins over who will take over his place. In the highly hierarchical organization, there are two candidates for the leadership position, each of whom leads two factions of criminals, and the loser risks both being murdered himself and having all his followers murdered.

With one of them, the arrogant and materialistic Chung, the police have managed to place one of their men, Ja-sung, who over several years of work has managed to rise to the top and is now Chung’s right-hand man. Since his wife is pregnant, he hopes to soon be released from his assignment for the police, but the death of the leader and the ensuing power struggle put the situation in a different position, and he is forced to continue with his assignment. Fearing what will happen to his wife and future children, he is torn between loyalty to his profession as a police officer and loyalty to Chung and the group of underlings who completely trust him.

The film sets the tone right away, with a bloody opening scene in which a suspected infiltrator is tortured to death. The film then follows a traditional but effective dramatic curve, where dialogue dominates while the premises of the film and its characters are explained, before the action scenes take over towards the end.

The film's greatest asset lies in the acting. Having a bunch of costumed gangsters running around and fighting with each other could easily be silly, but thanks to a simultaneously restrained and fateful, personal and conscious acting style, the characters appear as cool as they themselves seem to want to be perceived. The many extreme close-ups of the characters' faces, showing both sweat and the slightest twitch of their eyelids, bring us even closer to their inner thoughts. A constant awareness of the characters’ personal stakes, especially the risk to Ja-sung, creates a tension that is maintained throughout the film. It is heightened by the many twists and turns in the story, which make the film both unexpected and unpredictable.

The police chief who gives Ja Sung his assignment is played by Choi Min Sik, known from Oldboy, otherwise the actors are relatively unknown in the West.

The photography contributes a lot to the coolness of the film and the characters. The camera really enjoys the color-saturated images of the exclusive surroundings in which the wealthy gangsters move. The sterile and stylish surroundings reflect the perfect surface that the characters seem to want to convey, but stand in stark contrast to the chaos that prevails beneath the surface, where loyalties are questioned and lives are at stake. The editing is smooth and flawless and the image composition balanced and well thought out. The editing keeps the pace up and the tension intact even through the less fast-paced scenes, which retain their intensity through a combination of close-ups and tense dialogue.

It is actually unclear what illegalities they are actually up to, apart from murdering scoundrels. But that does not matter much, what is clear is that the organization has unlimited money that primarily benefits those high in the hierarchy, and that it takes cold-bloodedness and violence to get there. The tension that has been at a fairly even level through large parts of the film rises towards the end in a crescendo of violence and blood that makes the rest of the film fade, while the final scenes are etched on the retina.

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Why Every Butch Deserves a Jane, Not a Pie

​As a butch myself, watching Yes or No was a journey of mixed emotions. While I love the visibility, I have to be honest: Pie’s personality is not romantic—it’s a nightmare in the real world.

​Pie starts the relationship with heavy prejudice, and unfortunately, she never outgrows that "self-centered" mindset. In the real world, a partner like Pie is a second battlefield. She is high-maintenance and demanding, constantly refusing to share your interests. For example, Pie turning off Kim’s video game while she was playing was incredibly rude and dismissive. Kim showed genuine interest in Pie’s hobbies, even bringing her a jellyfish aquarium, but we never see Pie reciprocate. Even when helping with Kim’s university project outdoors, Pie did nothing but whine about being there during the holidays.

​Her lack of trust is also incredibly destructive. In the scene where Jane kisses Kim, it was visible that Kim had an eye mask on and couldn't see. Instead of using common sense, Pie jumped to the idea of cheating and destroyed Kim’s thoughtful gift in a fit of rage. She loves Kim in the dark but rejects her in the light to protect her own image.

While Pie whined about Kim’s university tree project, Jane was quietly nurturing a plant of her own to understand Kim's passion. Pie was ashamed and rejected Kim in front of her mom, while Jane was proud—she flirted openly and fought for Kim’s attention without shame.
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As a butch, it was impossible not to fall in love with Jane. My heart ached for her because she represents the genuine sweetness and good heart we actually crave. Jane showed "brave softness." She didn't find Kim shameful; she leaned into Kim’s world and gave the kind of silent, honest support that is the real prize.

​A warning to my fellow butches: Don't let the "Happy Ending" fool you. If you check the sequel, the jealousy and toxicity only get worse. Girls like Pie rarely change because they think their lover’s job is to "endure" their flaws. Kim might have chosen Pie, but any butch who knows her worth would have chosen Jane in a heartbeat.

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Great Show with Higher Potential, Still Down to Drain at The End

This show has a very very great potential, probably the highest-potential-that-never-reached that I've ever watched so far. The combination of coming-of-age and police university is fresh and unique. I came with no expectations at all, but the story about university life is lightweight, heartwarming, and easy to enjoy. The first three episodes were heavy, in fact the first episode was very very heavy. Character development is really nice in this show. No stupid breakups, thankfully (even though they have another kind of stupidity).

I also have no expectations with the casts, but they were all actually great on it! Chae Soo Bin, Kang Daniel and all others suprisingly delivered the "students" character well! However, I didn't prefer to have Soo Bin play her teenager character herself.

It was all nice and great, until the writer decided to switch the vibe after episode 11. Disney tried so hard to put a western touch in to this show, but clearly they need to learn something: NOT EVERY SHOW HAS TO INCLUDE A MENTALLY-ILL VILLIAN WHO DOES CRIME FOR NO REASON. Now the audience would be confused: audience who were up because of the heartwarming vibe would find it difficult to enjoy the thriller part and vice versa. The chance of university students to collide with and take down a dangerous drug-political cartel was very low, yet they made it as close as possible. Wi Seung Hyun made a very ridiculous decision by confronting Han Sol alone, with the consequence of dragging his friends who watched the video. The amount of time skips in this show is too much! They were just a first year student, suddenly they were already having an on-site training at a station, then suddenly again they completed the training. A lot of things missed out from their void, they should even try to explore the "other side" of the seniors. Instead, they made the seniors disappeared in the later episodes.

In conclusion it's a great show to enjoy, although it's a bit confusing due to the vibe switch. Watch this if you can cope both.

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A Drama for the Serious Minded

This is my very first review. I am compelled to do it because the other reviews have done absolutely no justice to this gem of a drama. It is not a show for quick gratification and it eschews almost all of the tropes associated with the typical Chinese romance. What you will find here is an intricate tale of the Chinese porcelain industry and its attempts to weather the winds of change brought about by capitalist modernization. The fragility of the Chinese porcelain becomes a very apt metaphor for the fragility of trust that has to be the basis of any human relationship. The series begins in the middle with the female lead rightly lashing out at the male lead for betraying her trust and breaking up with him. The first two thirds of this drama then tell us how they arrived at this tragic point. We are taken back about six months and we see everything from the female lead’s perspective. She comes from a family of porcelain artists, with her father having been one of the most prominent porcelain painters of his time. Her family business is now run by her uncle and aunt. When circumstances force her to return to her home town which is the heart of the porcelain industry in China along with the male lead, who is trying to gain a foothold in this untapped market, his competitive zeal and his single-minded pursuit of profit leads to him suffocating the life out of his budding romance with her. The last one third of the show is about repairing his relationship with the female lead and allowing their romance to reach its blissful culmination.

The heavy research the show has made into the porcelain industry is at the level of a fine documentary. The patient viewer will be enthralled by this. We are shown that this industry, which was initially comprised of state-owned enterprises, is transformed, by the shutting down of these enterprises, into a rough conglomerate of family-owned companies founded by the workers of those very same state-run factories, of which the female lead’s father’s company is most prominent and a de-facto leader of all the others. This conglomerate preserves the ancient production techniques which cannot be mapped on to a capitalist time-line of investment and return and it bars the entry of capital into this industry altogether. Capital is attracted to this ancient industry because it sees it as a reservoir of untapped demand to be transformed into huge profits. However, unfettered capital will simply destroy the porcelain industry for it lacks the patience necessary to produce a fine piece of China. On the other hand, the porcelain industry left to itself will produce nothing but lifeless imitations of ancient artifacts, artifacts which even if they are perfect illustrations of peerless technique have stopped speaking to contemporary times in any meaningful way. This will only hasten its extinction. What is thus needed is a revitalized porcelain industry that is able to meld ancient technique with modern sensibility. This is where the title of the show “Reblooming Blue” comes from: the revitalization of the blue, which stands for porcelain. Capital is necessary for this process of revitalization but in a manner and the degree that does not destroy the very object being revitalized. The show can be seen as meditation on this topic.

This tense relationship between, on the one hand, an ancient industry that conforms to an unhurried temporality and, on the other hand, capital that conforms to a frantic temporality is the backbone of this show and it mirrors the relationship between the male lead, who is the embodiment of capital and the female lead, who is the embodiment of this ancient industry. In the first two thirds of the drama, the confidence and swagger of capital is embodied in the confidence and swagger of this male lead, who is absolutely certain that he knows better than the practitioners and stewards of the ancient craft what is good for craft, that he can somehow satisfy the insatiable demands of the capitalist and maintain the sanctity and the quality of the artifacts produced. He therefore plans to use the female lead to wrest control of her family’s enterprise and win her heart at the same time. But this confidence is shattered when the head of the family, her uncle finds out about his scheme and shuts the door on him. The female lead is also devasted to see that she was being used by one she loved. Thus ends the first attempt at a relationship between the male and the female lead and between capital and porcelain, which the two respectively symbolize. The last third of the drama then shows us the restoration of their romance, which also symbolizes the restoration of the relationship between capital and porcelain on the basis of a new sensibility that combines the organizational capacity of capital, the rigour and patience of ancient technique and the aesthetic ideas that speak to the contemporary masses.
This is slow-paced drama, which is very well-acted out. Each of lead characters well-drawn out and utterly convincing. If you are willing to enter into an interesting and intricate set of relationships, which develop and transform through tragedy and setbacks then this is the show for you. If you looking a simpler reason to watch this show, watch it for the mesmerizing beauty of porcelain artifacts.

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Duang With You is the best drama. I really love this drama

Duang is absolutely cute and adorable. His childish side just makes him even more lovable. TeeTee was perfect for the role and brought Duang to life so naturally, I couldn't get enough of him.
Wow Qinn is seriously impressive. Por fits the character so well. He's so fine and his acting wow... So cool and expressive.
Marvis is such a diva in the best way and Otto who plays Marvis is honestly the perfect choice. Marvis is such a unique character. I swear I'm still not over him. He nailed that character completely.
And Pae! Wave played Pae so perfectly. Everything about the portrayal just felt right. Every single character in this drama feels so complete and well done. I genuinely loved it. I love this drama so, so, so much. DUANG WITH YOU honestly feels like a special, one-of-a-kind gift for us.
I'm completely in love with the DuangQin and JamieMarvis pairings. They have my whole heart.
Overall, the drama is sweet, soft, perfect casting and beautifully balanced. I enjoyed every moment of it. And I'm obviously so obsessed with this drama. Even after finishing the drama I still haven't gotten over it. This drama is such a hidden gem.

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A Second Chance Story Destroyed by Stupid Writer and Terrible Director

The drama Rebirth should honestly be renamed Refuck, because watching it feels like being trapped in a loop of the same bad writing, bad decisions, and recycled nonsense again and again.

Watch it only if you have too much time, nothing better to do, and a high tolerance for recycled stupidity.

The plot is a mess. The female lead is written as a perpetual damsel in distress who repeatedly sleepwalks into obvious traps, makes foolish decisions, and waits to be rescued again and again. Instead of character growth, we get the same helpless cycle dressed up as drama.

The story also tries to look clever with multiple endings, but they feel less like meaningful narrative choices and more like confused writing. The logic collapses, the tension becomes repetitive, and by the end, it feels like the writers were simply throwing shits at the wall to see what might stick.

For a drama built around rebirth, revenge, and second chances, it somehow manages to waste all three.

What it actually delivers is repetitive stupidity, lazy plotting, fake suspense, and characters who behave as if basic logic is a luxury item they cannot afford.

By the end, the only person who needs rebirth is the viewer, preferably into a timeline where they never started this drama in the first place.

Not recommended unless you genuinely enjoy frustration, weak storytelling, and characters who keep making the same stupid decisions until your patience dies.

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SPOILER WARNING :
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Season 3: Hyun-su’s dual personality is amazing and makes him even more badass. The reunion between Eun-yu and her brother was really interesting. Having one person with a double personality (one side still somewhat human, the other completely devoid of humanity) led to an epic fight scene. Then the alliance where one helps the other escape while trying to solve the bigger problem… The scene where Yi-kyung is killed by her husband in front of their child genuinely shocked me. And the finale was full of intense battles, the fake death of the little girl, Eun-yu becoming like her brother… I thought it was a really good ending.

so watch sweet home !

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it needed better execution

i dropped it at ep 10

first i wanna mention what i liked, that would be the actors, they did a good job with everything they were given. they had chemistry, not overly passionate but it actually fit their characters and the circumstances. the idea of the series is definitely good and interesting.

now what didn’t work for me. from the first episode something felt off with the overall vibe of the series. it might be a directing issue that i can’t fully explain, but i could feel it very strongly and it stayed like that the whole time.

my biggest problem is the inconsistent pacing and lack of properly shown development. the series basically starts with multiple time jumps, and instead of using that in a smart way, it just skips over important parts.

the main couple
we only really see how they met, not how they actually developed feelings, bonded, or connected. even with the later explanations, it doesn’t hit the same as it would if it was actually shown. they try to cover it with quick “this is what happened” moments, but it feels dry and not enough to make the viewer connect to them. honestly, something as simple as a proper time lapse with actual visual moments of them growing closer would have worked way better here.

the second couple
the rich guy falls in love instantly, but we never actually see the scammer fall for him. then the truth comes out, they break up, and suddenly we’re supposed to believe he’s been in love all along.

the conflicts and how they’re resolved
this is where it really falls apart for me. the falling in love part is rushed, proposals feel rushed, and we barely get to see them act like actual couples. there’s no real sense of the scammers slowly dropping their act or becoming genuine. but once they break up, suddenly everything slows down, they’re 100% emotionally invested, and some parts even feel dragged out or added for no real reason. the pacing just doesn’t match the importance of the moments.

overall, the pacing, emotional development, and tone feel very inconsistent. the show doesn’t really know if it wants to be funny or serious, and it mixes both in a way that doesn’t fully work (at least for me). because of that, the connection to the characters and their struggles never feels that strong.

it honestly feels like a good idea that wasn’t fully fleshed out. the concept is strong, but the execution needed much more work. and yes, i know i simplified the series a bit, it did have more development and connections, but they don’t really stick in memory. they weren’t made significant enough to actually be remembered.

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Very good season 2!!

This post HAVE SPOILER ! WARNING
This post HAVE SPOILER ! WARNING
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The first season was already so good that I was afraid season 2 would be awful compared to season 1, but what a surprise! Not at all, the story is really great, I wasn't bored for a second while watching the season. The script, the visuals, the acting—everything is really good.

The scene where Hyun-su is tortured in the pit, then his escape where he's frozen, was incredible. Meanwhile, Eun-yu desperately searches for him and his brother, enduring numerous hardships. The encounter with Yi-kyung's daughter leads to that poignant moment when he catches her mid-air, resulting in their reunion. That scene made me smile. And then there's the part where the little girl transforms her mother into a monster… we kind of suspected it once we understood the character. A truly successful second season.

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“Cdramas don’t know how to do enemies to lovers right”

The weakest drama in 2024 tho it’s potential to be good, The drama starts so well with much hate/angst and actions scenes with alot of mystery
this starts alone make you intrigued to continue with the drama and to see what will happen next!

then boom !! everything changed by episode 6-7 I think and it was drastic change

it suddenly became a journey of cultivation and lovey-dovey relationships

I don’t know why cdrama always do that
if the novel so dark that you need to change its narrative then simply don’t make it into a drama to begin with

many novels has positive stories to adapt into drama

the best thing came out of the drama is the music(one of the best in cdramas land”




“not worth it unfortunately”

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Il mio nuovo episodio di CM preferito

Esattamente quello che dice il titolo. Non è carino seguire la gente. Non è divertente quando questa ti chiede di smetterla e tu continui. E no, non è cute solo perché poi si metteno assieme. Volevo vederlo perché mi sembrava un take nuovo e fresco su un tema (gli universitari) un po' trito e ritrito, ma per me è stato un grandissimo no. E il vero problema è che non ho problemi a vedere serie con questo tipo di comportamento, se però o viene adressed (tipo in MAT dove Peach lo dice a Thee) o in serie dove tutti sono red/black flag e quindi diciamo che i comportamenti illegali sono parte del WB. NON quando me lo devono far passare come comportamento cute. Nel mio mondo di visione dei BL il finale di questa serie è un po' come se in in 2gether TIne si fosse messo con Green invece che con Wat (non che Tine non ci abbia messo il suo seguendo Wat, infatti è tutta un'escalation, ma il confronto di base viene mantenuto. Grandissimo NO.

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my first kdrama of all time

this was the first kdrama I ever watched
i don't remember much as i was extremely new to the kdrama world and it was years ago.
but from all I remember, very good comedy and romance i would say. the comedy was genuinely good. and the conversations weren't boring as well. idk how i finished such a long kdrama but I still love it. I've now watched 47 kdramas and i would say this one will come in the top 15 list for me. worth watching. go ahead. cast is good too.

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