Reviews

Transmigration/Second Chance

FL gets a second chance at life! And also takes revenge on those that harmed her before.

The definite standout for this drama was the actress for Soo Min. She was the perfect, most detestable villain, and honestly made Yoo Ra (the antagonist girlfriend that came in later episodes) seem like a normal person.

There were a couple of infuriating episodes (I'm looking at you, episodes 12 and 13) and also my gripe on how the ML seemed to have no personality outside of the FL, but overall, this was a good transmigration drama with a satisfying happy ending.

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Just a crazy drama to keep you in and off the hook

Firstly the drama started with a banger episode, it was intense and let me clarify, I hadn't seen the trailer before starting so, I was super excited when I saw Jang nara n Son hojun together again though that took a very quick turn.
The first 4 eps are really good but the drama somehow lost its direction after that but those who like crazy, unpredictable plots, might actually love it. After that from 10th episode, it was just total madness. I still get frustrated thinking how they were just hiding their feelings and hurting each other.
I get why FL was frantic but there was no reason for Soon Young to act crazy and do all that nonsense, even till the last moment, it didn't make sense for why he did that -_____-
Lastly, the ending 3 episodes were kinda slow compared to how crazy the plot went.

Don't believe the plot synopsis given, its deceiving, but if you have lots of patience and really are a fan of psycho, thriller, suspense with toxicity, then you should give it a try

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Coming to terms with betrayal

Contrary to the impression given by the poster, this is not a horror drama! I am always so surprised when people whose job is visual and in the media, come up with such a horrible poster! The synopsis above is from the official site ( http://areyouok.jp/en/ ) and is just as incomprehensible and misleading! There are no clouds and nobody's getting married: it is just a birthday party! Basically, this short drama has been really badly promoted!

It is a story of Mikako, who shut herself up after discovering that her boyfriend and her best friend have been seeing each other for a year with all of their friends knowing it but no one telling her. This is an interactive drama: you are given choices to make for Mikako: does she leave the house or not and what does she do afterwards. The story is quite interesting: the choices she has to make all lead to a happy ending for her: she accepts the facts and decides to move on, stronger!

The concept is original and the story is well written. Actually, I wished it was longer! The playlist on youtube lets you watch all episodes without needing to choose!

The acting is surprisingly good. The cinematography is rather grey/blue depressing which they used for the poster! When she leaves the house, the colours change and the song's lyrics have a significant impact on Mikako's feelings: after dealing with the problem, she's OK now!

The web series has been made to promote a song "Are You OK?" by the girl band FAKY.

FAKY is a five-person Japanese girl group that debuted in 2013 under Avex's Rhythm Zone record label. The group has gone through two reformations and currently consists of Lil' Fang, Mikako, Hina, Akina, and Taki. The group name was derived from the word "fake" to challenge themselves to bring something "real" to the Japanese music scene. Their name also stands for "Five Ass Kicking Youngsters" and "FAntastic toKYo". The group defines themselves as a "Next Generation Girls Union" and tends to take musical inspiration from outside of Japan while incorporating Japanese culture and fashion.

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You will see what she saw

For those who only see "I barely finished watching it " messages. I DID NOT barely finished watching it.
I waited for the episode every week and finished it the same day (which in my great, LONG experience of ongoings is rare). I thoroughly enjoyed this drama. Yes, there were and even remained some incomprehensible moments that I would like to unravel, no doubt. But those who say that her actions are not logical.... literally ALL of this drama is about the fact that she is SICK. This is the logic of a SICK person, the behavior of a SICK person and the life of a SICK person. And you are here to see how difficult and contradictory it is, both internally and socially.
I definitely don't think this drama is not worth your time. She's WORTH IT.
Only if you were expecting *high-pitched voice* “fluffy buffy the suffering of a man who at the end will see a rainbow and run along it to the tune of trol-la-la,” oh my god, this is not for you. BUT
But, if you are ready to feel all the suffering of the main character and are ready to just walk this path with her, WITHOUT IMPOSING EXPECTATIONS on her.. At least you will know the other side

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Dont forget to watch the post credit scene :>

I watched the movie right after finishing the drama, so my review is a little biased and not solely for the movie, but also in comparison to the drama. Ive rated the drama with 7 and the movie 0.5 stars more, because the movie does a lot of things right, which frustrated me in the drama. But..its also a very skimmed version of the story. So if youre looking for a fleshed out story and characters, that add something to the story, i would recommend to watch the drama, because it has a lot of loveable support characters. But its also way more frustrating than the movie. Nonetheless, i dont know if i would have rated the movie so high, if i didnt watch the drama before it, because the story feels very rushed here. Its quite shallow, but still cute and i dont regret watching the movie.

The female actress is way better in the movie. I love her acting and how confident she is. She's absolutely cool and i like her a lot! When it comes to the male lead, i liked both actors. And thank god Nagasawa wasnt such a pain in the ass in the movie. It was actually cool that she told Tsugumi to which things she has to be attentive to, instead of belittling her and just telling her she wont be able to handle Ayukawas disability.

For me, the movie was a nice watch, because i dont have the dragged drama and the whole frustrating experience from the show, but i understand if people find it too shallow, fast paced or messy, without watching the drama first. I always prefer a fast paced romance over draggy, frustrating dramas, but i also cant deny that the drama has a lot of likeable support characters, who made the drama a lot of fun. The movie is kinda a best of of all the most important moments. x)

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Great premise succumbing to strange writing choices

I don't need a drama to have a happy ending, that's not at all why I dislike the ending of DAS so much (other than me having basically hate watched a drama for the first time overall) but the ending of Duty After School didn't feel earned. Had they all been massacred by the aliens I feel like much less people would have complained about the ending, even though it would have been just as sad. I think the issue comes up with this decision clearly having been made in the last two episodes. While yes Yeong Soo had been established from the get go as weird and a bit of an outcast at times, none of his behavior previously was showing signs of being prone to psychosis, sexual assault or violence. So to be faced with a character suddenly doing these things from a viewer's perspective is odd.

From a character perspective or even real life you definitely never know when someone will snap, you might even call the sudden change realistic in that case but again, we are watching a drama, we are a viewer from the outside who thrpughout the drama always had a 3rd perspective on everything happening with details unbeknownst to the characters. So based on that perspective it didn't feel conclusive. Instead it felt like they were suddenly looking for a reason to give the viewers a shocking ending. Especially the way it cut immediately to the end of the literal apocalypse with the solution to the very problem they spent 8 episodes fighting being mentioned on the side with a quick "Oop they developed a new weapon and now all is well." Those two aspects in combination were jarring when you just spent a whole drama watching characters being focused on survival just for it to all end abruptly by something they didn't spend time building up to.

There is of course so much more wrong with the drama than the ending but I don't wanna write more paragprahs about all the plot holes, strange characterizations or bad chemistry. In the end the acting is really great, the premise is fun but the drama succumbs to a lot of bad choices and for me personally, a lack of relatable or even just sympathetic characters.

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The sweetest couple!

First of all, I like impacting stories for unique experiences, and that's why the rate I gave wasn't that high.

This title is about daily life, work, co-workersand bad supervisor orders. But they gave their soul on characters, I could feel every single emotion, and that makes feelings surrounding the story wonderful to me.

I really like how responsible they got and how silly it was to discover Hiro's desire to have someone by his side.

Also, I am still thinking it is hard to watch stories talking about childhood love. Luckily, it isn't about it at all, but this made my score lower.

Gave them a chance if you want to feel your stressful thoughs being hugged by two sensitive guys, who juat want to go home and feel safe! ❤️‍🩹

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Celebrity Panelist mentioned Cupid visited this season and I have to agree

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2022 Chinese dating reality show with 21, 95-122 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis
This is the Chinese version of the Korean reality dating show of the same name. The show starts with six singles, three men and three women who enter the chosen house location one at a time the first day. They cohabit the “signal house” (which changes each season) with the women sharing one bedroom and the men sharing two bedrooms. The overall goal of the show is for the singles to go about their daily lives while freely flirting/sending signals with the other occupants of the house. There are few organized activities, the main focus is on them living together and getting to know each other more naturally. At the end of each day they send a signal (an anonymous text) to the opposite sex single of their choosing and the detectives must determine who will send a signal/text to whom.

Celebrity Panel/Detectives

Angelababy formerly known as Angela Yeung Wing. Hong Kong actress, businesswoman, investor, model, and singer. She was born as Yang Ying and later went under mostly her stage name. Her birth year us 1989.
Meng Ziyi  is an actress. She was born in actress. She was born in 1995.

Sikence Wang, Wang Sulong, is a Chinese pop singer-songwriter and record producer. He was birn in 1989..

Wu Xin also known as Orfila. She is an actress and television host. Born in 1983.

Lee Seung Hyun (English name: Nathan) is a Korean-American pop singer and actor. He is a former member of the disbanded group TAKE. He currently works in China as an actor. He is married to Chinese actress/singer Stephy Qi, and they have a daughter and a son. Born in 1984.

Seungri known more formally as Lee Seung-hyun is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, and former member of the South Korean boy band BigBang. His career took a nose dive when he was brought up on criminal charges and served time in prison..

Chen Linong (Nongnong) Guest panelist episodes 5 to 8. He is a Taiwanese actor born in 2000.

Du Hai Tao Guest panelist episodes 7 to 10. He is an actor born in 1987.

SINGLES

FEMALES

Li Nie Shuang Yu - Lena Bear. Futures contracts. Researcher of Macro Aggregate of a financial institution. BA in accounting, Michigan State University. MBA in marketing strategy at Imperial College London. Born 1997. 25 years old.

Wang Qiuyi - Autumn Potato Consulting in life sciences. Senior Consultant in Anyong China. Double degree in Financial Economics and Visual Arts from Columbia University. Born in 1995. 27 years old.

Li Wanqian - Secret Media Blogger. BA in Mass Communications from Penn State. Master in Digital Marketing King’s College London. Born in 1996. 26 years old.

Jin JiaYue Graduated from communication University of China. Sports event host. Born in 1998. 24 years old.

MALES

Xue Zheyang - A Tall Sheep Wealth Management Business Strategist in a European Bank. BA in Finance at Penn State. MBAs in Finance at John Hopkins University. Born in 1995. 27 years old.
Haoran - Leo6 Musical Actor. BA in Opera at Central Academy of a Drama. Born 1998. 24 years old.
Zhang Genyuan - Eat More Vegetables/broccoli Investment and Financing Consultant and Manager at a local bank. BA in economics at NYU. Born in 1999. 23 years old.
Chen Zonglun (Jolan) BS in German studies from Shanghai International studies University. Worked as a Customer Service Manager at a major accounting firm. Born in 1996.
Sun Xin (Xuao Pai). Patrick. Double degree in computer science and statistics from University of Waterloo. Product manager with a dot com company. MA in Information Systems Management from Hong Kong University. 26 years old.

Review
This is my favorite Heart Signal season so far out of both the Korean and Chinese version and my all time favorite couple from this one. The heartwarming romance between some of the singles is a joy to watch. It will confirm that love is alive and still one of the most beautiful human emotions. They all got along really well and there were tears among all when the show ended because they formed such a strong bond in such a short time. I highly recommend this show for anyone that likes romance and particularly reality dating shows. It is a must watch in that genre.

Spoilers
I skipped to this Season after watching all of the Korean seasons up to date and the Chinese versions up to Season 2. I could not find Season 3 or 4 in any easily accessible format. Some have suggested watching it where TenCent posts on You Tube and then having it auto translate but auto translate was turned off for me. It is hard to find anything about the Chinese version likely due to all the discussions would be on Chinese media platforms and not likely translated. What little I could find was that one of the singles had a criminal history so they had to edit their scenes out of the show. But that doesn’t explain why the other season is really hard to find. Maybe due to the pandemic? Maybe the CCP censored it for some reason? If anyone reading this knows why these two seasons are harder to find, pleas note in comments.



#LiNieShuang
#LenaBear
#WangQiuyi
#HeartSignal5
#LiWamqian
#JinJiaYue
#XueZheyang
#GuoHaoran
#ZhangGenyuan
#ChenZonglun
#SunXin
#Jolan
#SunXin
#XiaoPai

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A story of great visual and auditory beauty, with great emotional depth

Won-Gyu (Won Tae-Hee), a German airline pilot, returns to South Korea after a two-year absence, but only intends to stay a single night. Victim of a homophobic attack some time ago that forces him to live abroad, a decision also motivated by his search for a place where his homosexual condition is more permissive and tolerant, he faces the judgment that the homophobic and conservative South Korean society has on homosexuality. .
The protagonist tries to outwit his nightmare by living in constant transit. His home is anonymous and ever-changing hotel rooms, his connections with others temporary and rootless, of little significance to his life.
In one of those typical, completely evasive encounters, he meets Tae-Joon (Lee Yi-Kyung – (학교 2013/ Hakkyo 2013/ School 2013), a young gay delivery man on a motorcycle, whom he meets through chat websites. Despite Being a few years younger and having a less rewarding and paying job, Tae-Joon is much more comfortable with himself, including his sexual preferences.
On this basis, Korean director Leesong Hee-il writes and directs 'Baekya' ('지난여름, 갑자기'/'White Night'), a 75-minute film that has as its predecessor the short film 'One Night', with which he develops the trilogy known as 'One Night, Two Days' (백야), which includes the medium-length film 'Suddenly Last Summer' (지난 여름, 갑자기/'Jinanyeoreum, gapjagi'), and 'Namjjokeuro Ganda' ('Going South' /남쪽으로 간다), all from 2012, in which three unconnected stories are told that have gay themes in common.
Leesong Hee-il has an extensive filmography since his film debut in 2004 with the short film '동백꽃' ('Dongbaegkkoch'/ 'Camellia Project'), but is probably best known for his 2006 film '후회하지 않아' ('Huhoehaji Anha '/'No Regret'). In 2009, the director contributes to the overall project 황금시대 (Hwang-geumsidae/Short! Short! Short!), and also makes the feature film 탈주 (Talju/Break Away, 2009), before filming the short that begins the trilogy, in 2012.
As in the rest of the three pieces, 'White Night' tells a story of great visual and auditory beauty, but perhaps most important is the emotional depth. The raw honesty of the film's narrative – centered on the often deeply problematic feelings of its characters, all asking difficult but very real questions – is commendable.
Another characteristic of Leesong Hee-il's cinematography is the use of music that accompanies the images in a memorable way, with songs ranging from Western popular music to Korean ballads, being chosen with great care in the purpose. to instill a sense of peace, insane frenzy, sadness, uprooting, loss, abandonment, nostalgia or even melancholy, in contrast to the inner turmoil experienced by the characters.
With a high degree of concision, achieved within extreme brevity and economy of language, as well as by the semantic ambiguity and the interpretative potentials that the film offers, Leesong Hee-il reflects how Taee-Joon does not seek sex for the sake of it and, although not opposed per se to a one-night stand, he harshly rejects Won-Gyu. The director's goal is to expose how people relentlessly pursue a more meaningful and lasting relationship than a sexual romp, like the one Won-Gyu intends to have in a dark public bathroom frequented only by casual lovers.
However, as the night is still young, and these two almost strange individuals continue to gravitate towards each other, in this journey about the complexity of human relationships, accepting the other, emotional pain more than physical, and criticism To a society that still considers homosexuality a perversion, Tae-Joon learns, little by little, about the painful burden that Won-Gyu carries, while the latter, perhaps for the first time, sees an individual who simply accepts himself as such. as he is while accepting the other as he is.
Knowing that perfectionism can destroy creation, so he polishes his works seeking exquisiteness, Leesong Hee-il shows how Won-Gyu's internal conflict comes to the fore through the external conflict that arises when he meets again with a boy who knows about the past, before deciding to try to erase what happened in foreign lands. This climax comes surprisingly early, not to the benefit of the narrative, considering that the film begins as a short film and, perhaps, could have done even better to remain that way.
Furthermore, some of Tae-Joon's actions, in particular his decision to stay by the side of someone he barely knows and who displays quite erratic and then also violent behavior, are not entirely understandable. Be it sexual attraction, sympathy, pity, or whatever reason pushes Tae-Joon to stay with Won-Gyu, her presence is what offers the latter the opportunity to heal his past wounds and realize that a different reality may be possible.
In other words, thanks to Tae-Joon, Won-Guy comes to understand that there may be hope, which is why it's worth returning to South Korea more than once every few years, for more than a single night... and even remain in the country indefinitely.
There is an incredible beauty in the suffocating, depressing, dark, and even demented atmosphere due to the ghosts of the past that haunt one of the two characters and the intertwining of the lives of these young people. Who will not be trapped with the souls that inhabit the film? Who will remain impassive in the face of characters embodied in beings that we have once known or could be ourselves?
The entire trilogy reveals to us a filmmaker with a sure pulse to capture the audience through the use of the right phrase and image, the clarity of the speech. No wonder he is considered "one of the most interesting contemporary gay Asian directors." And in this effort to create stories, reality opens up in a multicolored fan with overlapping layers and blurred borders.
The essence of the film, which had its European premiere at the 2013 Berlinale, followed by screenings in Vancouver, Hong Kong and Jeonju and at the 27th London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival that same year, also lies in the fact that Tae -Joon could very well be precisely the type of person that Won-Gyu needs in his life, like Kyung-Hoon himself needs Sang-Woo in 'Suddenly Last Summer'.
Open-ended like all parts of Leesong Hee-ill's trilogy, 'White Night' feels less gloomy than 'Suddenly Last Summer' and 'Going South', leaving the viewer with the possibility of a long journey towards happiness. still ahead for both characters.
We are facing a stinging film, which digs into the skin and the bones not only because of what it describes, but because we are certain that beings like the main characters are not so few in a world dominated by homophobia in a conservative society that makes It makes homosexuals feel ashamed, which often leads them to blame themselves for not being able to meet the imposed criteria of normality.

Note: The reviews of the remaining pieces of the trilogy, in MDL, can be found on the page dedicated by the virtual platform to each of them.

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simple series

it's cute✨and simpler than other series, le min hoo handsome ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

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Gorgeous Cast

The Sign gave us something different in the BL series realm, of course the romantic angle is there but with a mix of action, political intrigue and historical fantasy and let’s give credit to Idol Factory for stepping up to the challenge of presenting variety to the audience. The cast really stood out for me, well, primarily because they are all gorgeous. Leading the pack of delectable men is Billy and his slutty waist. A real eye candy but he also gave us some credible acting. It is my first time seeing Babe and he definitely has one of the most beautiful faces in BL right now, perfect in all angles. Also, special mention is actor Gap who exudes a throbbing sensuality at the same time a sweet boyish charm. The cinematography is also something to be applauded for together with the special effects which were executed cleanly. I do feel though that there were some scenes that dragged on like the crying scenes which would tempt you to hit that fast forward button a little bit but again, commendable effort in trying to offer something that is not expected for a BL series but still making sure not to deviate far from the boys love theme. I can say that I enjoyed watching this series and looking forward for what other series this production outfit can come up with in the near future.

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