Reviews

Non linear storytelling at its best (with few "flops").

Undoubtedly thrilling and unique story that does not give you a minute of a break - fast paced, well packed with both the plot and the action. Cleverly showing you just bits and pieces of a larger context, uncovering the whole story with each and every episode. While A Shop for Killers had a few issues, it’s still a title worth checking out - perfect for weekend binge watch.

One could say it opens like a fish out of the water type of scenerio. Not quite. From the start we can see that Jung Ji Ahn is far from being a defenseless young woman, even if she herself is not quite aware of it. Personally, I found the story of her growing up under the careful watch of Jeong Jin Man the best out of the whole show. The bizarre, but obviously strong bond they had, the silent understanding. It was amazing to watch her connect the weird training from the past with her current situation, and use said lessons to survive.

At the same time, Jeong Jin Man’s past seemed a bit messy and did not get the conclusion that fitted the initial tense atmosphere surrounding it. By the end of episode 8, I had to rewatch certain scenes just to make sure I did not miss anything. Where are the answers?

Another aspect that was a bit frustrating was how they at times utilized the non linear storytelling, by repetitive usage of scenes. The show was short. There were some scenes where they truly expanded on what was previously shown - giving us the whole context and full story. At the same time, there were some moments where the “already shown” part was simply too long. I’ve already watched these scenes one episode ago, you do not need to show it to me from the start again. I could not stop myself from skipping minutes of the drama, just to get to the point where the story moves forward.

Performance wise? Amazing. Some actors were a bit typecast, which made it easier to guess the characters' intentions and possible actions, nonetheless - everyone delivered. Personally, I am a fan of Lee Dong Wook in dark roles, so this one hits the spot perfectly. Jung Jin Man is obviously not a good person, not a good character, but there is good in him and that’s what differentiates him from some of his, let’s say “co-workers”. Seeing these detailed differences was an interesting experience. They are both bad, but are they equally bad? How much of someone's actions is understandable, can be explained and excused, where is the line that should not be crossed?

Kim Hye Joon was amazing as Ji Ahn. Well executed character development. oved the strong and raw emotions she was able to present when Ji Ahn was cornered and truly exhausted with the dangerous situation she got dragged into. Loved the more soft scenes of her as a carefree child and teenager. Love how Kim Hye Joon was able to present the duality of the character in such a great manner.

Shoutout to the cute guy who helped Ji Ahn when she was a child, if you watched, you know.

Production was great - the soundtrack was full of bops, the fighting scenes had amazing choreographies, the practical effects of blood and other painful “things” were on point.

Overall, left a lot to explore, by the end felt like a borderline bait for possible second season with quite a few aspects not being fully explored. And yet, I’m not mad. It was highly entertaining, had many interesting characters on both the good and the bad side (and let me tell you, the bad side is BAD). Keeps you interested and engaged from episode one till the last scene of episode eight.

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One of the best BLs I've seen (and rewatched)

This ended up being my first kBL. I was relatively new to watching BLs in general at the time and had only seen a few thai BLs but WOW!?
Semantic Error was such a fresh show for me, the acting was perfect, the chemistry was COOKING. I ended up rewatching the whole show 10 months after watching for the first time and my rating for the show went UP. I had originally put it at a 9/10 but I changed it to a 9.5 The ONLY reason its not a 10/10 was its so so short rip. Not that it needed the typical kdrama 1hr episodes for 16 episodes because tbh I get bored easily. There was not a single slow part and not a single time that I watched on 2x speed (I do this a lot in some of the other BLs). This opened up to me all the other amazing kBLs that I have also come to love. Semantic Error will always have a special place in my heart :)

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Vale a pena cada segundo do seu tempo

Hoje, concluí a imersão no envolvente dorama estrelado pelo carismático Lee Dong Wook, conhecido como o tio mais gostoso da dramalândia. Em "A Shop for Killer's", Wook continua a surpreender ao interpretar Jeong Jin Man, um tio de natureza única que repudia injustiças. Apesar de sua profissão questionável e um shopping peculiar, ele assume a missão de treinar sua sobrinha para um futuro ataque, de maneira tão sutil que se torna imperceptível, quase militar, enquanto a jovem permanece alheia à intensidade do treinamento.

O dorama é uma montanha-russa de adrenalina, prendendo o espectador do início ao fim, impossível de abandonar por um segundo sequer. As cenas são eletrizantes, por vezes brutalmente impactantes, e o suspense te deixa sem fôlego. A narrativa é intrincada, com várias camadas que se desdobram, cada uma mais fascinante do que a anterior.

O desfecho da história deixa um sabor de querer mais, e já estou ansiosa por uma segunda temporada, com minha pipoca 🍿 pronta para a próxima sessão. A nota que atribuo é estratosférica: 1000/10. Este dorama é perfeito para assistir com um namorado, marido, filho ou sobrinho que não é aficionado por doramas, pois oferece uma experiência repleta de ação e isenta de romance; afinal, doramas vão muito além do convencional romance. Prepare-se para uma jornada cinematográfica que transcende expectativas e promete uma experiência única e envolvente.

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Worth to watch?

Totally yes, this adaption really hits different. The story is more relate-able to life, i love their chemistry on this series, and also the cinematography are so beautiful, soft and light to watch.

But for the storyline sometimes become slow and fast? At the same time, referring to the manga. There is some scene that don't really needed.

Side couple r cure too, i love SingJan as RockPai, they're really made the series more sweet at work. JintaMin and Madam Noi ofc the dramatic one, Jinta(Tsuge) character it's little bit different, but no worries.

Yeahhh so far soo good.

8-11 already, tmr it's the final ep and i can't wait for that. I wish te marriage become true, it will be a good ending FOR REAL.

(+) Anw as a manga reader, there is too much improve from the original story, i feel like this version is good but there is something missing, like a LOT. Is it too hard to make the series a lil bit close to the manga? Some part is really waste time, we can get something better if they don't make it longer and nonsense (ep 7&10 is good, but sorry...) And yeah gmmtv series ending always become rush.

BUT I LOVEEE THIS SERIES SO MUCHHH I LOVE TAYNEW, i wish after this we can see them in another BL series, with a good story and character. This series got 1M on trends, why not??

(+) I'm here after watching the final EP, as i said before the ending of gmmtv's story always came too fast, there is so many scene that need to be fullfiled. If they don't waste many screen time maybe they could make the ending better, i really want to see KaranAchi struggling before the marriage, it will be good if i could see it. BECAUSE THAT WAS MORE IMPORTANT, you know???

But yeah it's okay, still worth, still good, their chemistry are so good, they can bring the butterfly effect on viewers. I'M SO MELTING ON EVERY SCENE OF KARANACHI. Y'all should see the details of every scene, there is much of soft touchy, taynew ate this, so natural.

FINALLY HERE I'M SO SAAAAD, WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT WEEK??? WITHOUT CHERRY MAGIC TH???????

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Six youths on a self-discovery journey with romance, friendship & adventure

This drama is about two non-biological orphans who have lost their memories and together investigate their origin. Alongside their journey, join them four newfound friends who’s backstories are also explored. The drama is a mix of mystery and adventure with romance as the main focus.

All Sword and Fairy dramas are stand alone, they take place in the same world but have different stories. This drama is based on a video game of the same name thus the atmosphere feels quite different from the usual wuxia cdramas (in fact I believe it’s xuanhuan genre). The costumes and set designs do reminisce a video game vibe but in a pleasantly good way.

The best thing about this drama is hands down the main six characters. All of them have distinct personalities that make them stand out but at the same time they all work well together as a team. This is one of those rare dramas where I absolutely loved all six main characters, all six backstories, all of their romantic stories and how their friendship as a group was portrayed. All of them brought a great depth to the story and their character development was fantastic to watch.

POSITIVE:
- Top-notch romance. The love stories are the main focus so expect lots of cute romantic scenes. If you are a hopeless romantic you will love this for sure.
- All six main characters are well written with an intriguing past, romance and great character arcs.
- All couples have fire chemistry. They are different and yet exciting to watch (if you are a romance lover).
- Friendship group that you fall in love with. They fight together and sacrifice for each other. You can’t help but love them.
- Love triangle (hear me out), that’s done well. We all hate love triangles but this is probably the only one where you root for both equally. And it’s because the male lead and second male lead are both played by the same actor.
- Xu Kai (male lead) did not disappoint. Yet again I loved his acting performance. He played two different characters so well.
- Besides the two main leads, the four other cast members blew me away with their performance too and their presence elevated the plot.
- Mystery plot line was done well + the suspense vibes were on point.
- Biggest plot reveal is complex and yet explained very well and shown in the drama in great detail (which I really appreciated).
- Many twists and turns that kept the story engaging.
- Second couple stole my heart. They had lots of screen time and I absolutely loved every minute of it.

NEGATIVE:
- Second half of the drama lost my interest and the emotional impact was reduced. I easily cry and yet I didn’t shed a single tear during any of the emotional scenes towards the end.
- Final villain was very boring to watch. I always believe that good stories require intriguing villains and this one was NOT it. The final fight scenes were also quite lacklustre to watch.
- Cliche ending that I’ve seen in way too many cdramas at this point + I didn’t fully like how it was executed.
- Plot felt a bit all over the place at times.

OVERALL:
If you are looking for a drama with tons of romance, lovely friendship and well written main character arcs + adventure and mystery vibes, watch this drama now.

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It seems like I'm the only one who didn't feel bad for the male lead, well to be quite fair I also didn't feel bad for the female lead, in the end I think both of them were better off without one another.

When it comes to the female lead, she was obviously ableist and very immature, and would cause more harm than good to the male lead, that became clear to me when she jumped to say very hurtful things about his disability when they fought. As a POC, I know very well what it's like to suffer from microaggressions even from the people you love, and in the long run maintaining a person like that in your life will slowly eat you up. I suppose that with the passage of time and the open ending we're supposed to accept that she changed, but I'd have preferred to actually see that development, and I don't think I saw much of it, considering that up until episode 11 she was still hang up on the fact that he couldn't/wouldn't speak.

As for the male lead, the one everyone feels sorry for, I do think this drama is a product of its time, watching this not long after watching Silent shows how far we've come in the portrayal of people with disabilities and interabled couples. I think the way the drama would sometimes made it seem like the male lead would be unable to find love was ableist in itself, and I say this based on the things his sister and ex-girlfriend said and how the break up made it seem like they were right in their assessments, so overall the writing was questionable.

But if I focus only on the characters and forget the world outside of them, I feel that the male lead also wasn't ready to be in a relationship, a lot of focus is put on the female lead's actions with her friend, both by the audience and the drama, but if I'm being honest I think the male lead's "situationship" with his ex-girlfriend was inappropriate, and showed how inconsiderate he was with his partner's feelings. The second the ex tried to kiss him, he should have cut her from his life, or at very least made clear there were lines she couldn't cross, but instead he became even more involved in her life, allowing her to be even more close to him despite her confessing to him multiple times, it was no surprise the female lead questioned their relationship, I think anyone would.

And then there's the slap....... again, forgetting the time period, forgetting the questionable writing, and thinking only about the characters and their actions, if you ask me, a man who commits an act of domestic violence gets the karma he deserves from the universe, and that's exactly what the male lead got.

So yeah, ultimately I don't think the break up is solely because of the female lead's actions, I guess that's where my opinion differs from others. And as for the open ending...... meh. If the drama had taken the time to show how they changed in those three years apart, then maybe I could see it, but since that didn't happen, I prefer to think that they just ran into each other and didn't get back together.

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I really REALLY like this show

Other than the great casting, the show itself is just, muah, chef's kiss.

The emotions that are portrayed feel so real and is conveyed very well by the actors.

Other than that, it doesnt feel corny or copied like other shows can feel, it instead feels very unique and original (I know it's based on a webtoon, but ykwim)

Moreover the open ending left off so well to introduce season 2 even though I'm sad that Choi hyun wook will be in that season. I look forward to seeing more of this show and it's definetely a great and thrilling watch!

I recommend strongly, on my mother, it's amazing!

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A not so bad plot and a not so bad acting

A series adapted from a novel which I didn’t read so I my review will only focuses on the series.

We get a very interesting first 2 episodes with an original concept as well as in the directing and artistic approach, with an intriguing cast, intriguing because it is far from the roles we usually see them in, and if you don’t know it’s from a novel, it is also a very unique plot.

To me I am satisfied with 95% of the storyline and the acting. I especially love the scenery, this darkness around each scene and the dialogues with a lot of depth. The sign language conversation is extremely enjoyable. Vilains have some depth too even if you think the main vilain is psycho.

It is a very short series for which we can expect another season and worth watching especially since it is short.

Now I will talk about a few things that, personally didn’t work and thus, the reason why it is not a 10/10.

First of all the development of Jeong Ji An is not completed. Was it saved for another season ? We have a child version and short development of her as a kid. You must have spotted how strong JJA as a child is very brave and very intelligent. We could think her childhood affected this version of her but they showed us when Jeong Jin Man was raising her. We still see confidence, braveness, curiosity and excitement actually… The young adult version of her is quite far from the picture we got from her in the past. The young adult teenage version of her is very frail, not confident, weak also (in her way to think and physically act)… So it feels we are missing something.

Another plot problem to me is how quick some situations get resolved. I mean, these people are very smart, not easily fooled, they think… How this whole situation gets resolved is not convincing. When JJM dies it is not convincing how easy people think he died. Is it because the novel said so ? Should we blame the writer ?

Another problem is the acting. Don’t get me wrong I am satisfied with everyone and if sometimes Kim Hye Jun is questionable I think it is more a characterization problem. But Park Ji Bin could have done way better especially when he dies…

Lastly why not a 10/10. Well even if it was very entertaining and nice I think it is hardly rewatchable and they are right, the re watchable value is part of the rating. You might think because it is short it is not rewatchable but DP is rewatchable (season 1), on american series Black mirror is rewatchable. Might be very different kind of stuff but to me the rewatchable value here is lower than some other stuffs.

PS : I talked about the cons but I also mentioned the pros and of course I enjoyed it. I think LDW is pretty amazing even tho it is not his best performance.

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An Incoherent Mess

My sympathy goes out to those who started this series way back in August 2023 when it first began. I know myself too well to realize that a series of this magnitude and depth would not have held my attention for very long as it is an anthology of 12 short stories of two episodes each. I would have forgotten the plots to most of the substories. As it was, even with binge watching this and taking copious notes, there is not much here to capture your attention for very long, and most of these stories become forgettable soon after they are seen. With only two episodes per story, you got very little plot, no character development, and even less understandable conclusions of what the stories were about. Some were comedies, although I found none of them funny at all. Silly yes, but not funny. Some were metaphysical or occult which were incomprehensibly difficult to navigate the point to the story. Most were just drab and dull. Others were just amateurish confusing messes.

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Purpose unclear, mildly ok parts

This series consists of 12 2-ep stories of love. Most of them are about the beginning of love, but in some the failure of the same. I was left with the feeling that these were all stories that could at some point be made into a full series, but were not due to lack of funds or otherwise, It all feels rushed, low budget with unknown actors thet we have either not seen before or only in supporting roles. Some themes really deserved more time and attention, such as Friends Forever and Pisces Of Me. Some should be fast forgotten, such as Marry Go Round and Fake Love. Some are really good in this short form, like You Are My SoulMate and Lucky Love. On average it was a 5,5/10 for me.

Casanova Begins: 5/10 huh, why?
Marry Go Round 4/10 Cringeee
Right Time, Right You 7/10 Great chemistry
You Are My So(ul) Mate 7,5/10
Lucky Love 7,5/10
The Camp Fire 6,5/10 (reveal ruined it, wth)
Friends Forever7/10 so sad
Fake Love 4/10 bad directing bad editing gaps, repetitions
Pisces of Me 5/10 heavy subject too rushed
1626 7/10 what happened next?
Refund Love 6/10 fun concept, badly executed
I Wish You Love 6/10 melancholic

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Can't recommend enough!!

THIS IS SO GOOD OMG it's such a classic I can't wait to forget everything so I can rewatch it!!

1. Story (mild spoilers ahead)
interesting story line and it was paced almost perfectly, there was a slight lag, for me personally as I didn't care for the screentime awarded to CH but other than I loved it. Also would have loved a better conclusion for the cloud guy, I thought we were gearing up to him being ousted but its okay.
It has the typical xia ending of last 5 mins but the special made up for it.

2. Acting/Cast
god such great acting, wow. Every single person acted their hearts out in every single scene, even the minor ones. The support roles were phenomenal but the leads? they acted their asses off I am so impressed. FL's voice did take a bit to get used to but given her acting range showcased I decided to bear with it and good thing I did.

3. Music
I don't put much thought to music and ost so I will just say it is nice and not off-putting at all.

4. Rewatch Value
High, very high indeed. I will definitely be back.

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Polished TV Production Honours Manga Origins

I loved the series and watched it twice over the 2024 new year. I particularly enjoyed the culinary conversations and even learned a few new tips. Jun Shison oozes sex appeal ... and appealing arrogance. Some viewers may be unaware Takahashi is a trained cook and Shison has recently directed a couple of short films. They are both absolutely outstanding actors on an ensemble of amazing talent in front of and behind camera. Would be wonderful to see a Season 2. But please, Director ... lose the awful Gaku bowl cut wig! Hiding the most handsome man in Japan! 😆
I would have liked more scenes of Ego Gaku, that period of the show serms too brief but
is very intense and Takahashi Fumiya again cements his potential as an amazing, emotionally powerful and broadly skillled actor at just 22 years of age. He typically plays brooding, moody types; check him out in the new movie release Our Secret Diary. I personally believe he could be a significant talent beyond Japan if he so wishes. Enjoy 👋

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