Reviews

Don't bother

At first I was intrigued by the premise. A woman gets trapped inside of her own game, that sounded like a fun premise. But the more I watched, the more I grew disappointed.

First things first, the pacing. Pacing in all of these short web dramas are always a problem, but here it was hard to ignore. The female lead falls for the video game main lead so quickly that it felt incredibly unbelievable. I understand the male lead falling for her - she was doing and saying all the right things - but she knew it was a game, she knew it was code she developed, and she still fell even faster than he did? Where's the internal battle of "he's not real but he is to me"? Also, the male lead didn't really do anything to truly make them emotionally and romantically closer. It felt like they fell in love within a week and were ready to risk anything and everything for their love. Bizarre.

Second, the real world. What I had originally liked about this is that Fang Xi Mu wasn't fully disconnected from the real world as is the norm in many of these types of dramas. Her shi-xiong, Yi An, was constantly in touch trying to figure a way out for her, as well as helping her succeed in the game. But once she made it back to the real world, things got even more bizarre. It makes not one lick of sense why the company didn't sue the team for breach of contract and stealing corporate secrets. I get they decided to let it go so that they could still create a game and benefit them, but they could do that with any game designer? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't keep working with people who tried to steal from my company.

And what a huge case of second-lead syndrome! But our female lead did not care one bit about Yi An. Even when she turned up ready to take the risk, it wasn't because of Yi An, it was because of Hao Tian. He deserved so much better.

Just when I was about to praise them for having the semi-believable ending of parting ways because they're from two different worlds, the last few minutes of the drama twisted that on its head (though it is a bit of an open ending). It's not that I didn't want a happy ending, don't get me wrong. It's that this show tried to convince me that there were severe and intense consequences to certain parts of the game, but in the end there weren't. And I think therein lies my biggest issue with this show: it's one thing when a show doesn't take itself seriously and is just shallow enjoyment. I can appreciate and enjoy that. But this show tried to take itself too seriously and then delivered on nothing but air.

I wonder if a longer runtime could have saved this, or if the writers and/or directors don't know how to write a well-balanced story. But honestly, if you're thinking of giving this a try, don't bother.

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Definitely a good watch!!

Usually don’t write reviews but I had to for this one. Loved this show overall, the chemistry between the characters, the seemingly never ending subplots. The one thing that did throw me off was that it felt like the writers had too many ideas for this show and not enough time to fully flesh them out. Somehow they fitted a sci-if plot with a dying grandmother, an alcoholic father, and mother who abandoned her son and made a new family w/o him, a social media influencer plot, and way more into just 8 eps. Not to mention woongis character’s abroad boyfriend that was never spoken of again. Love for loves sake would’ve really benefited from something like 12 hour long episodes rather than 8 thirty minute ones. Other than the pacing, I would really recommend watching this. I was invested in the characters from start to finish and the guy who played yeowoon had my full heart. Loved his acting and portrayal of sadness, especially in the break up scene.

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This drama is perfect to feed your heart and make you smile ?

The secret in hidden love popularity is the warmth and the positive vibes that you can feel between the FL and ML , the lovely family and the chaotic brother ?
Duan jia xu found his home and comfort in Sang Zhi is so heartwarming ?
Sang Zhi drunk scene is the cutest and the funniest thing ever ?
Despite being a low budget drama the cast is brilliant and everyone gave great performances . The plotline , The writing are well done which led to get a huge amount of views and recognition .
Zhao Lusi as always never disappoint and she's the queen of chemistry ? and Chen Zheyuan smile is so healing ??

This drama is perfect to feed your heart and make you smile ?

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"Happiness comes only through effort"

Late Spring was the first film by director Ozu Yasujiro I ever watched. I had no idea who he was or anything about films from this era. For the most part, I was unimpressed. After watching Late Autumn which was a loose remake of Late Spring, I decided it was time to revisit one of Ozu’s classics.

The plot is deceptively simple. Noriko is 27 years old and on the cusp of being too old for marriage. She and her widowed father have a comfortable relationship neither wants to change. It is an aunt who shakes things up by insisting on finding her a husband.

Ozu often focused on this transitional part of family life-a child on the verge of leaving and an aging parent facing loneliness. Noriko's familiar routine started to ebb away as her father came to terms with what was necessary for her future which begat sadness and grief. Noriko had become too much of a surrogate wife and needed to become a real wife with a real husband which would require her to leave the nest as children do. Her father recognized he would not always be around and the only way to protect her and secure her happiness was to marry her off.

Though the mother had died some time ago, her presence felt tangible. Noriko showed great jealousy when her father mentioned he might remarry. She felt men remarrying was “filthy” and “indecent”. Apparently, older people no longer required companionship and intimacy. Noriko seemed overly involved and attached to her father. “I’m the only one who knows what he needs.” Was she upset for her mother’s sake or her own? During a Noh performance, her feelings shown through when she saw the perspective woman was also attending. Ozu’s astounding ability created a deeply emotional scene simply by cutting back and forth between the characters’ reactions to each other and the performers. During another evolutionary moment as daughter and father were lying side by side, Ozu focused on a vase for long seconds as Noriko processed her emotions and gave the audience the same meditative chance.

Ozu’s skill and his ability to compose exquisite frames was, as always, impeccable. Where I struggled with Late Spring is what caused me to stumble last time---Hara Setsuko’s performance. Her overly bright smile for the first half of the movie could be disconcerting. Sometimes a smile hides a person’s pain and sometimes it hides a vacancy sign. Smiling while riding a bike and enjoying the moment seemed natural, smiling when taunting the professor for being “filthy” seemed strange. She is a much admired actress and while I have enjoyed some of her darker performances, too often she over-relied on her smile. The second half had her character behaving petulantly and pouting which seemed out of place for a grown woman who had survived forced labor during the war.

As a modern viewer these plots were uncomfortable and I had to continually remind myself this was 1949. A woman was basically sent from her father’s house to another man’s house with little say as there weren’t many other options available to her. Noriko’s father complained that daughters were pointless. “You raise them and they leave. If they don’t marry you worry and if they do you’re disappointed.” Noriko worried her father would be helpless without her. Modern me thinks her father would learn to pick up the clothes he casually dropped on the floor himself and pour his own glass of water while brushing his teeth.

Despite my reservations, Ozu knew how to incorporate the most basic concepts of life and make them interesting. Noriko’s father, expertly played by Ryu Chishu, grasped that loneliness and death were a part of life and he wanted his daughter’s future taken care of. The plot might have been simple but Ozu was a master of teasing out the buried emotional details of changing family relationships. I rated this higher than my first watch and perhaps in the future, I’ll appreciate it even more. The father’s speech to Noriko was memorable then and now, one of the strongest from any Ozu film I’ve seen and still holds true today.

“Happiness isn’t something you wait around for. It’s something you create for yourself.”

14 February 2024

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What a Ride!

I must admit that this series is an astonishingly sophisticated and complex story to navigate. This story may also be the beginning for the creation of fictionalized BL worlds blending video gaming with reality, an interesting new format to say the least. Since I do not play ‘video games’ and had no idea of the lingo or the rules for computer gaming, this was a challenge for me to traverse. I had to stop and find definitions to terms I am unfamiliar with, admittedly. Additionally, this series uses a combination of allegory, fantasy, and twists to realities in an almost Avante-Garde fashion. And the story itself is oblique and sometimes enigmatic. This is not your standard BL series by any means.

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Made me a fan of Xu Kai

Don’t get me wrong, I had nothing against him. This was the first time I really loved him in a role. He’s so expressive and does excellent fight scenes.

The series could have done with a few less “another obstacle” plot lines, eg, Liu Changfeng’s incessant hijinks, the entirety of Gu Wanniang, the apparently most gullible emperor to have ever hit a script.

Overall, though, a great series with some great action scenes. The scenes in ep. 30 (Old Bao, tears) were compelling and gritty. The series really ratcheted up a notch for me there.

Couple of nits - no costume changes pretty much ever. One dress and we’re good. And, the soundtrack was not my favorite by a long shot - but not horrendous.

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A near perfect bl that suffered from bad finale syndrome

Episodes 1-9 were some of the best episodes in a bl I've ever seen and I binged them so quickly, but I felt myself struggling to watch 10-12. It was as if the writers forgot what made this series so special and even the key qualities that made the characters who they were, taking away any of their development. The whole story was about how Day was normal (and how people with disabilities are normal) but in a monologue in the finale he talks about someone blind not being normal? I genuinely don't think Day should have gotten the surgery because it erased his growth throughout the series and felt slightly disrespectful. Mhok was an amazing character, probably one of my favorite characters in any bl, but in the finale it was like he was a completely different person. I am also just not a fan of time skips especially if they are just there because the writers couldn't figure out how to end a series. I was pleasantly surprised with Night's journey throughout the show. At first I really didn't like Night but he quickly became my favorite (especially after they ruined Mhok). Night isn't a typical character that I would like (considering he's not queer and you don't see much of him) but I related so much to him. I can relate to that feeling of when you make a huge mistake but don't know how to fix it, and when you try to fix it, it just makes it worse and worse to the point that you feel like you can't do anything correctly. When Night cried because they acknowledge his favorite food it really got me because something as small as that was so moving to him because of how neglected he was feeling in his family. Overall a good series and JimmySea were amazing (my first series I've seen from them but their chemistry was great!). And at the end of the day, the only reason I feel so strongly about the bad final episodes is because of my love for the first 9 in the series.

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Perfect cast

I won't write a detailed review. We have all seen synopsis like this. We have also seen a drama been dragged down for various reasons.

I've writing this to say that this drama has the trifecta of cast chemistry, good writing elevated by the cast and great directing.

The production team hit the jackpot. I love each of the characters.

Highly recommended as a great drama. Recommended for an organic growth romance with a romance that made sense and gave all the feels.

The family and brotherhood vibe is strong here and since thank god this is not a nationalistic drama no one died unnecessarily or in pain.

Gosh. This drama is unreal. Once I process the drama I will come back and rewatch to appreciate such a mature couple and their truly excellent wingmen.

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Masterpiece of work

I love almost every scene in every episode, the chemistry of acting, cinematography, ost. Some scenes in every episode are heart warming and moving . The development of storyline from erlier episode to finish is connected and make sense in couple life. People around ML and FL are just like a star that shine on its own and they make FL and ML love stories even more sweet and into deep. The storyline does not only about love but the challenges their face from family, financial stability, and fame which human need most life and that make the love stable and even sweet. The ML, FL and the crews perfectly portrait its character perfectly just like the reality. In overall, amidst snowstorm of love is a masterpiece of work of romance drama.

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THE MOST TOUCHING LOVE BETWEEN FRIENDS AND LOVERS

This is the most recent drama that is really good with an inner feel of connectivity to it. The new dramas (especially modern romantic dramas) have no sense of connection and that has becoming bore and feels like no value to watch it. Sometimes personally I start watching and drop in the middle and start watching old dramas. But in this drama THE CAST IS PERFECT, THE COUPLES HAVE GOOD CHEMISTRY/PHYSICS OR BIOLOGY WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL, THE FRIENDSHIP SHOWN IS GREAT AND WE COULD CONNECT WITH THEM AND EVEN EMPATHISE WITH THEM. FROM THE MAIN LEADS TO THE GUEST PERFORMERS ALL WERE PERFECT.

Let's say something about the drama now(ofcourse with no spoilers ;) )
- AWESOME STORYLINE
- GREAT DIRECTION
- GOOD MUSIC
- GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR AND LOVE.

Overall this is a drama after long time (in modern romantic dramas) that one can watch without thinking oh the her is not good or the heroine is not good or the acting is not good or it is too draggy etc etc etc. Let's all watch this drama and support the team from the production(back stage workers to actors) - okay? thumbs up if you will and thumbs down asking me to stop haha : )

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Everything you need in a travel show

As someone who loves Greece & variety shows, 'I Am Ground' was a big hit with me!! From the very first episode, the four cast members displayed incredible chemistry both among themselves and with the guests they invited. It was super heartwarming seeing everyone becoming closer to one another as the show progressed :') Even though they did not speak the same language, they were able to bond through various games. They got to experience a bit Korean culture and go home with a great memory. My only complaint is that there are only a mere 4 episodes — I would have happily watched 10+!

'I Am Ground' is a show anyone can enjoy. I really hope there will be a season 2.

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