This review may contain spoilers
No proper relief for 11 episodes of mental fatigue
*** This review has spoilers ahead. ***I really liked this drama. I was waiting all week for the last episode. When it finally dropped I was so excited, but also anxious because i didn't know how it would all work out in the end. I wanted everyone to have their happy ending.
But now I prefer it was a sad ending with better execution rather than a rushed, fluffy, bubbly happy ending for everyone, and I say that as someone who almost always checks dramas for happy endings before even starting them.
Maybe it's just me but the hospital scene in the last episode, after ml wakes up, felt too lazy and bland. That scene should have been the most complicated and delicate scene of the whole drama. We should have seen more of what was happening in ml's head as he saw her sleeping next to him. We should have seen how he handles the aftermath of that surgery. There was so much potential there. Instead we got a lazy "I love you".
The pain and mental fatigue we carried together with the characters throughout the drama was not properly handled, and a happy ending was thrown at us like a bone at a dog.
Also the COO's guilt did not make sense. That whole romance added nothing to the story to be honest.
That being said, the acting was amazing. Especially the two leads did a great job.
Those 11 and a half episodes were so good I can't even bring myself to give this drama a low score. Its such shame though. Could have been a 10/10.
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“This Drama Broke My Heart in the Most Beautiful Way
Oh gosh… I was literally bawling my eyes out while watching In Your Radiant Season. This drama didn’t just make me cry—it completely shattered my heart into pieces in almost every single scene of every episode.The story is deeply emotional, beautifully written, and painfully real. Each episode carries its own weight, yet none of them ever feels boring. Instead, it pulls you deeper and deeper into the characters’ lives, making you feel every bit of their joy, pain, and longing.
Lee Sung-kyung and Chae Jong-hyeop truly delivered outstanding performances. They didn’t just act—they became their characters. Their emotions felt so raw and genuine that it was impossible not to cry along with them. Their chemistry was soft, heartfelt, and quietly powerful, making every interaction feel meaningful.
What makes this drama even more special is its side characters. They aren’t just fillers—they shine just as brightly as the main leads. Each relationship feels sincere and comforting, creating a sense of warmth even in the midst of heartbreak. Even when conflicts arise, none of the characters feel purely cruel or merciless, which adds a layer of humanity and realism to the story.
And of course… the OST. Every single track carries its own charm. Whether it plays during a heartbreaking moment or a gentle, happy scene, the music blends perfectly with the storytelling, amplifying every emotion. It’s the kind of OST that stays with you long after the episode ends.
In Your Radiant Season is not just a drama—it’s an emotional journey that quietly lingers in your heart, leaving behind a bittersweet ache you won’t forget anytime soon.
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A Promising Mix of Law and Yakuza — But the Bromance Fell Flat; Stayed for Machida
I’d been looking forward to this series for three very specific reasons. First, Machida Keita — he’s become one of my go-to Japanese actors lately. Even in a supporting role, he tends to steal focus, so my expectations were quietly high. Second, the genre mix: yakuza undercurrents, legal drama, detective work, a bit of action and moral ambiguity. That blend is very much my thing. And third, I was hoping for a solid dose of bromance — ideally a mentor – trainee dynamic with some emotional weight and unspoken loyalty.On the first point, no complaints whatsoever. Machida delivers. His character, Mibu, is calm, restrained, slightly opaque, and written with enough moral ambiguity to keep things interesting. He’s not exactly squeaky-clean, but he’s compelling and, crucially, believable. That kind of stoic presence can easily fall flat, but here it lands.
The plot, though, sits somewhere around a 7/10. It’s watchable, occasionally gripping, but not something that completely pulls you under. One issue is emotional investment: I didn’t really care about the clients or victims in many of the cases. Some of them are morally dubious at best, which makes the whole “defence” angle feel a bit… unearned. You’re watching, you’re following, but you’re not exactly rooting for anyone. Still, it’s entertaining enough to keep going.
What really threw me off, however, is the structure. After ten episodes, the story feels oddly fragmented, almost as if it just… stops mid-thought. It’s unclear whether this is meant to lead into a second season or if something got lost in the editing. Either way, the lack of narrative closure is frustrating.
Now, the bromance — arguably one of the main selling points for me — was a mixed bag, leaning towards disappointment. I actually liked Kujo: composed, purposeful, clearly driven by something beneath the surface. There’s a sense that he’s playing a long game, and that works well.
But the dynamic with Karasuma didn’t click at all. And this is very much a “type issue” for me. I struggle with the trope of the inexperienced junior who immediately starts questioning, lecturing, and emotionally demanding things from a seasoned mentor. Karasuma comes across as whiny, entitled, and oddly confrontational for someone with very little standing. The constant moralising and need for validation just grated on me. Instead of a loyal, perceptive partner trying to understand his superior, we get someone who feels more like a disruption than support.
Ironically, the secondary bromance (with Mibu) had far more potential. There’s a quieter, more understated connection there — shared history, mutual understanding, minimal words. You get the sense that something significant happened between them, something that shaped their relationship. I would have happily watched more of that, but it remains underexplored.
All in all, it’s a solid, fairly engaging watch with a few standout elements — mainly the performances and the genre blend — but also some noticeable shortcomings in character dynamics and narrative payoff. I enjoyed it, even if parts of it didn’t quite land for me. If you’re into legal dramas with a yakuza edge and don’t mind a slightly uneven character setup, it’s definitely worth a try. And if there’s a continuation, I’d be curious to see where it goes — this story feels like it still has something up its sleeve.
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Some people are not meant to be.. and that's totally okay
The first part of Still Shining pulls you into a beautiful first love and than crashes you heart with the harsh reality of real life.Both of the main leads did an amazing job portraying their charachers. The acting was truly phenomenal from both parts.
Both the ML and the FL had some questionable choices in this drama which made them feel real and made me really resonate with them. They both had their own struggles in life and they both made some mistakes.
But truly some people are just not meant to be together, no matter how much they love each other, their life just takes different paths and that's the sad reality of relationships.
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Powerplay and forgiveness
This was a great drama, it's nice for a change to have a drama that is not all fluffyness. And don't get me wrong, i love those, but something else once in a while is very welcome. The story was great, the only thing that bothered me a bit was the time shifts, they were a little bit confusing. That's why i gave it a 9/10.The action scenes were very good. And it's very cool to see a girl wo can fight and good too!
The visuals were stunning and the music good.
Great acting by all the actors and amazing acting by Peat, he played all the moods perfectly, scared, lovesick, ruthless, devistated every single one was portrayed perfect.
Fort and Peat have amazing chemistry and their kiss/intimate scenes are perfect.
The girl couple had great chemistry too and the kissing scene in the pool was hot.
Definatly a must watch!
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Empress D
This movie is one of the best drama ve watched so far 👌, kudos to all the actors, this is a masterpiece and i love every scene portrayed, and i also love the ML and FML they are both good actors and i also love the ending, that was so good,looking forward to see them together in another drama and moreover their FML acting was so good she really did so well and this my first time watching one of her dramaWas this review helpful to you?
planning to watch this drama?
The CGI looks decent, but the story is a mess. The plot feels very weak and the direction is poor.The main leads fall in love too fast without reason. Their romance feels like lacks of real emotional spark.
Supporting characters are useless and confusing not sure why they are here. This drama just about to uses famous actors/actress just to bait fans. Just watch 3 episode you will feel the same.
Not going to waste my time further to watch this.
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This review may contain spoilers
A good production with a rushed and poorly developed romantic plot.
I liked the choice of lens used in the series, with that "serious drama" feel. In general, the series is well-produced and has great acting, but the main thing for me will always be the story, and the biggest mistake in the series is precisely its main point: The development of the romance:😐 The development of the romance is too rushed! And because of this "rush," we can't connect with the story. At the beginning of episode 1, the protagonists don't even know each other, and by the end of episode 2, they've already gone through so many ups and downs that it gives the impression that the story is already over! And the bad thing is that we didn't even get the middle part, where the beginning of the relationship appears! So the impression is that we saw the beginning and the end of a romance movie... In other words: We didn't create any connection with the couple, and some romantic lines lose their meaning. It's like starting a romantic series halfway through! 😬
😭They skipped all the "First times" at the beginning of a relationship, so the romance became bland! We didn't get their first romantic dinner, their first night out together, the first time introducing themselves as "girlfriend" to their friends, the first text message exchange with that smiling face, their first weekend together, their first sexual encounter, nothing... They skipped all that. We only got their first kiss, but it was very quick, without them even knowing each other properly, and then they skipped months of their relationship, so their kiss NOW doesn't cause "butterflies in the stomach" anymore, because they've been together for months, so they've already kissed and had sex a lot... We just didn't see it. Everything now will have that air of "naturalness" and not the butterflies in the stomach of "wow, the protagonist is nervous because she's never done this before with her girlfriend, and since I'm waiting to see this in time, let's get nervous together and enjoy the scene"... Instead, they made a 2-minute music video with silent scenes of them being happy and skipped 3 months of their relationship.
Another bad thing is that romantic phrases and declarations lose their meaning. For example, Arisa says, "I can be myself with you," and in theory, the viewer should watch and think, "That's true! How romantic," but what we think is, "When were you 'yourself' with Lyla? I didn't see that... Is she being sincere or is it just lip service?"... Do you understand? If we haven't seen anything related to their relationship, we can't connect with those moments or get emotional. It becomes a loose phrase without depth, without a scene, and nothing to base it on. It's the same as her saying, "I already won a tap dancing contest."🤷♀️
🙄 Another thing I didn't like was Arisa's attitude. First, she decides that the 2-minute video (3 months of relationship) meant nothing and asks Lyla to disappear from her life; then, she decides it did mean something and insists on getting back together with Lyla. In other words: Arisa decides whether they are dating or not, and nothing prevents her from changing her mind again in two episodes. She's not being honest with Lyla! She could have just said she was confused and needed time to think. That it was better to break up. She didn't need to be a jerk and make Lyla feel used!
In one scene, she gets angry because of Lyla's "lie" and says, "I forgive you, but we'll never lie to each other again," and in the same episode, there's Arisa, lying to Lyla again and making a fool of her.
📢"But that's the story: Love conquers revenge. Arisa is using Lyla to get revenge, but then she will fall in love with her and give up on revenge"
👉Arisa WAS ALREADY Lyla's girlfriend, and WAS ALREADY in love with her when she decided to use her girlfriend to get revenge. So if in the end Arisa says: "I wanted revenge, so I decided to use you but ended up falling in love," she'll be lying! Because she already loved Lyla, she already knew she loved Lyla, she was already dating her, and even so she decided to use her.
Regarding the revenge, I also feel that the series is moving too fast, as if it were a fanfic where each chapter has to have several things happen to hook the viewer, but it's not as bad as the development of the romance.
Could my opinion change? Yes, definitely, but if they started development making so many mistakes, it will be difficult to reverse. My hope is that revenge will be good.
PS: The soundtrack also falters at times because it sometimes disappears completely out of nowhere. It's simply cut off, just like that...
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This review may contain spoilers
Not what you expect
I am a huge fan of Nana Komatsu, and I was really excited for this movie when I saw her being part of the cast. She chooses very interesting scripts, so I am always excited to know more about her projects.At the beginning, this will feel like another crazy age gap, high school student falling for an old guy kind of story, but hear me out; this is far from any romance. I would call this a journey of healing, a journey to save each other, and a journey to find back the path they walked away from.
On one side, we have Akira, a promising track athlete who was so unbeatable, but since her injury, she doesn’t know whether she’ll be able to continue again and is contemplating giving up on running entirely, putting her into a depressive spiral. On the other side, we have Masami, a 45-year-old divorcee with a son, who completely gave up his lifelong dream of becoming a writer. He is in the middle of a mid-life crisis but is a sweetheart and deeply cares about his employees, wanting to make sure they’re comfortable and happy.
Although Masami refuses Akira's love confession due to their large age gap, she somehow convinces him to go on a date, and that’s where we see their friendship birth. After learning each other’s struggles and lost dreams, the two develop a relationship of respect for each other. This is not love but more of two friends cheering each other and looking at each other fondly. The best part of their relationship is how they were able to inspire each other, and especially Masami seeing someone young and passionate like Akira rekindles his own forgotten feelings of youthful passion toward literature.
Masami and Akira’s relationship was never meant to be, but their "romance" touched both of them deeply and made them rediscover how much they loved their own passions.
Although the premise might make it look like this was going to be an awful, weird age gap romance, it’s far from that. Instead, it’s a beautiful story of two lost individuals who find each other and become friends, and help each others find back the path they walked away from. It’s a nicely made movie, but since this was from a manga, making it into a movie did cut a lot of important time frames. To adapt to the short duration of the movie, most scenes feel rushed and don’t allow enough time to develop or explore the feelings.
The only flaw I found was that the whole focus was on Akira's story and Masami felt left out. We don’t get to know much about his divorce, his struggles, and his thoughts (maybe due to the movie format), but the focus is only on Akira. However, it’s an inspiring movie, but the structure of the movie and time constraints really take a lot of its impact and make it feel incomplete.
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SO FUN
It was a bit draggy at some parts and I feel some scenes could’ve been cut (I zoned out), but overall, it was a fun show. I think the pace was fine, and how they first developed into friends first before progressing further made it all the more wholesome. I love the side characters as well. The first few episodes were stressful but I love that there was a need to grow and improve and not have the characters be perfect from the get go. The last arc was a little unnecessary in my opinion, but the final battle was outstanding and the ending was well worth it. Going full-circle was a joy. Would recommend (and already made a friend watch it lol)Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A glorious short drama
This short drama truly plays to its strengths. The rebirth aspect is used to shorten the time it takes to set up the villains and allies within the harem. Short dramas usually feel rushed to me, not so Glory Back. It truly feels like the screen writers and director condensed a harem drama to its most essential scenes. Glory Back benefits from focusing on the revenge story instead of more sprawling harem and state intrigue, though the hints are there. It is a well-played personal story of the FL finding out who harmed her and who is making a mess of the harem in the process.The male leads are both devoted to the female lead and have their strengths. It is fun to not immediately dislike one over the other. It becomes clear, though, that only one can match the female lead's wit and personality. The progression of the relationships felt very organic.
The visuals are stunning and the production makes good decisions to use the budget they have. They make the harem look like a sprawling place.
Often I feel the last episodes of dramas (both short and standard) can be a real drop in quality, not so here. The very last episode was a bit too wholesome and progressive for the overall story, but that's just how Chinese Drama operate at this point (for good endings).
For a web series this one is simply so good and I am happy a second season has been teased. I would be so interested in this team doing a standard series harem drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
recommended watch
great show.but don't watch the last 10-15 minutes.
because of the standard timetravel censorship.
Despite the restrictions it was niceley written. helping finish the FL's character arc.
story fit well together. there were some things that were rushed.(novel has 2000k chapters) but as someone who hasn't read it, they made the right choices.
the story showed how some people continuously pushed themselves back into the same pit, while others dares to bravely move forward.
the acting really shone in this one. comparing the actors at the start against the end can really show you how much they changed.
but this show does give some characters an ageless feel. they changed behaviorly but dont seem to have gotten older over those 10 years.
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This review may contain spoilers
So bad that it becomes frustrating
I have to admit I’m mostly finishing the series just for the sake of it, but I really didn’t like how the development of the main characters was handled. We don’t even really understand why they love each other.I do think there is some chemistry between them, but the characters are so poorly written and the plot makes so little sense that it becomes frustrating.
I don’t understand the point of adapting a heterosexual work if it’s just to keep the same tropes and the same types of characters in a GL version without any real thought behind it.
Wannueung is particularly hard to tolerate, and I rarely say that about female characters, but this is really too much.
As for the side characters, like Wannueung’s best friend or Win’s ex, they feel completely useless. They add nothing to the development of the story, and even their relationships are uninteresting.
Overall, the series is poorly made and not very entertaining.
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Fun Subverted Harem Trope
This series is unexpectedly hilarious and I found myself looking forward to each episode..I usually hate the harem trope but was surprised at how they subverted it. The writing has a self awareness of all the classic drama tropes and it feels a bit like they are inviting us to be amused by how they can still be upended. Very self aware and doesn't try to be anything other than lighthearted. I genuinely like the ML he is no paragon of virtue but just a nice guy but still a guy. For a short drama his character has some depth. all in all I'm looking forward to the rest of the series .Was this review helpful to you?
So disappointed ?
I was really disappointed with this series. The story felt weak and not very interesting, and the pacing was too slow at times. Some scenes were boring and didn’t add much to the plot. The characters were not well developed, so it was hard to feel connected to them. I expected more, but it didn’t meet my expectations. Overall, it was not as good as I hopedWas this review helpful to you?
