Reviews

Disappointing

There isn't much to discuss; it would have been better as a 12-episode series. I ended up fast-forwarding through the second half just to finish it. The ending was lackluster, and many storylines were left unresolved or forgotten. The only consistent aspect was the military enlistment of the male leads. It's disappointing because I was genuinely intrigued and enjoyed the first half of the series.
































.

Read More

No words to describe how good this is!!

Everything about this drama is completely amazing. Don’t hesitate to watch because it will be worth every second. You will never get bored, every chapter keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next. I dare to say it’s one of the best kdramas in this genre, and that’s saying much because i’ve watched a lot. The actors, the acting, the chemistry, the mistery, the love and hate leaves you open mouthed and longing for more. Lee Joon Gi deserves all the recognition for this role because you can quite literally feel his pain through the screen. I still think about some scenes from time to time and get the same feelings as if I was watching it for the first time. A complete work of art.

Read More

Amazing storyline with charismatic casts

Feb. 1, 2024

Love for Love's Sake is that Korean drama BL. It is one of the best written shows for the BL genre in a while. I am so happy and amazed at how the storyline progressed. Each episodes, the story just keeps hitting the write spot. And I am really really happy at how the Kdrama community is showing love and recognition to this type of plot line. As a big manhwa reader, this type of plot may not be other people's cup of tea as it is very unrealistic in terms of how it is a gameline and kind of like an isekai genre.

Huge shout out to the production team and the manhwa creator as they really put the work needed to make this show just fantastic. I love the "learning"?, or the theme that they were conveying. Especially with the execution of the scenes. Although, there were parts that were omitted from the manhwa. It wasn't something that bothered me as much.

In terms of the casts, I love them all. They did equally well in terms of portraying the characters to life, and they were even able to put their own little spice and twists to them.

I can't believe that the year has just started and Korea has already produced a remarkable BL that sets the standards so high.

Please continue to give the reception and love this show deserves!

Read More

Family feuds, women's and men’s social ambitions. Beautiful production and story!

This drama is one of the best family period dramas I have watched.

Funny enough, around episode 15, I almost quit. I wasn't sure to be able to watch 73 episodes of women's fights. So I fast-forwarded and stopped at the love scenes. Then, I went back to where I stopped to continue the story. The more I watched, the more it became addictive. I think the turning point was when ML explained his strategy to marry her and her true personality came out; No longer a doormat but a very smart strategist knowing inside and out how to survive her family and in-laws. The chemistry exploded on my screen, I was hooked.

This drama is far from being a typical romance drama. It portrays the harsh reality of women's lives, including the hierarchy, jealousy, hate, nasty stepmothers, loving grandmothers, nannies, children, maids, sisterhood, concubines, and complicated relationships with men. The drama also sheds light on the forced marriage, ambitions, and clans, and how men were granted the freedom to have mistresses ranging from prostitutes to bed chambers to concubines, to first spouses, heritage, and succession. Moreover, it highlights how women were conditioned to submit to strict social codes and family hierarchy, and how their lives were tightly supervised.

I was completely engrossed by the transformation of the main female character in the drama. She started as a meek and submissive young woman, but as the story progressed, her true strength and determination were revealed. It was impressive to see how she fought tirelessly for her husband, child, and loved ones. Every aspect of the script was so well thought-out and executed that it felt entirely believable. The attention to detail was exceptional, and it allowed me to immerse myself completely in the past. The film provided an authentic glimpse into how families were structured and how people lived together, following strict rules and structures. Overall, it was an incredibly fascinating experience that left a lasting impression on me.

The love story was a complex and multi-layered tale of two individuals who were deeply in love with each other, but their relationship was plagued with challenges. There were moments of pure cuteness and loveliness, but there were also times when it was enormously frustrating to see them struggle. It was evident that their love was genuine, but it was also clear that they were conditioned by their childhood experiences and societal expectations, which made their relationship complicated. The man was like fire, passionate and intense, while the woman was like ice, calm and collected. Despite their differences, they remained committed to each other, and their love was the glue that held them together. There were a few instances where I chuckled at the adorable moments they shared. However, their story also highlighted the gender-based differences in status and the societal pressures that come with it. Overall, it was a beautifully written story that portrayed the complexities of relationships and the power of love to overcome challenges.

The performance was absolutely stunning! The actors and actresses involved were all seasoned professionals, and their skills were on full display. As always, I found myself completely smitten with the two male leads. It's hard to pick a favorite between them, but the ML was particularly adorable, especially in the way he portrayed his deep love for his spouse.It was crystal clear that respect was the foremost priority, and love was considered an exception.

I easily recognized two highly talented actresses. The first one played the lead role in "Princess Agents" - a drama that I absolutely adored, except for the lackluster finale. The second actress, who played the fifth villain princess in "Love Like the Galaxy", also showcased her remarkable acting skills with a completely different character. I must say, I was thoroughly impressed with both of them! I must emphasize that every actor in the drama was exceptionally great, despite the fact that the male leads were outstanding. The grandmother's portrayal was particularly touching, and it was hard not to have a soft spot for her.

I must admit that I am usually very critical of scriptwriters and directors, but in this case, I must give credit where credit is due. The plot was easy to follow and everything made perfect sense, making it a truly fluid and enjoyable experience.

I was impressed by the thoughtfully chosen music that complemented the atmosphere without being too loud. Additionally, I couldn't help but appreciate the attention to detail put into every aspect of the production, from the intricate houses to the stunning costumes and sceneries. It was truly a feast for the eyes and ears.

This reminds me of other family period stories that I also recommend. They are completely different stories but similar with in-depth conflicts and heavy social hierarchy and rules: “New life begins”, “Royal Feast” and “Chef Hua”.

This drama was very complex and gave me a full overview of how women and men lived and survived.

Read More

Bitter sweet romantic drama…

The reviews are all over the place…people loved or hate it…
I am inclined in the like it part…
The beginning was funny… with Haebaek trying to adjust to modern life, driving FL crazy… and how they both fell in love was sweet…

Main leads have great chemistry…. Although the story is kept quite PG10… only a gew kisses and ghat was it… and as usual FL is running away every time Haebaek started a bit more romantic than usual… which was not really credible… but its a norm in these series …

And the story was more or less ok until ep 11… then it dragged… like 30 secs of him watching her sleep… and a lot of scenes like that.

Somehow, it felt like the writers missed the point at the end… the resolution of yhe conflict felt deflated…. And it was missing ML showing more of his powers throughout the series…

Overall… I liked it.
Story… 8
Music was really nice! … 9,5
Acting was ok… 8,5

Would I watch it again… 6… maybe…

Read More

spectacular !! mind blowing !!

It’s been a while since a show has left me speechless.
If you like puzzles, thriller and mistery this is for you.
It keeps you hooked from the very first moment to the last, the amount of plot twist and the acting is out of this world.
Some may say it’s too messy but imo that’s the charm, you’ll keep wondering what will happen next and it leaves you with endless questions throughout every chapter.
It’s the type of show you will need to watch with an open mind and pay attention to the course of events or you will end up getting lost.
Nothing will ever come close to the way i felt when i was watching this series. It’s a masterpiece and 100% recomended.

Read More

Cathartic, yet equally as frustrating

I'm a bit of an inexperienced BL watcher. I do watch BL, most of the drama I consume is BL content, but I am definitely more unfamiliar with it than a lot of other people are as I am not always the type to watch dramas. That being said, I was compelled by this one. I have followed Woongki for a couple years and this left me with a lot of intrigue. Now that I've watched it, I have a LOT to say about this show.

I'll start with the positives of this show - this show has some of the strongest chemistry and acting I've seen in a while. Every character is cast brilliantly and their portrayals of their respective characters allow me to understand each character to an amazing extent, an understanding that allowed me to feel a really close connection towards them. Lee Taevin's performance as Myungha is one of my favourite portrayals of a character in all the BLs I have watched and you can tell that he cared about this show and character, as in each and every scene you could easily make out his emotions, his intentions, his everything. Cha Joowan does an amazing job as Yeowoon as well and he is probably my favourite character to watch because I relate to him a lot, and he is a very enjoyable character. Heck, every main character in this show is great, but it is clear that the main couple really steals the show.

For me, this show is so, so close to getting it perfect. The core storyline of this show is not one I thought I would enjoy, but it navigates it brilliantly to the point I found myself engaged. I picked this up after the release of episode 1/2 and was drawn in immediately, then was further drawn in by episode 3/4. What this drama has as a shortcoming, however, is the plotholes it creates in its progression of the story after we see Yeowoon finally warm up to Myungha after episode 4.

Episode 5 is the beginning of the shit this show brings in to spice things up and give a bit of shock value, which I heavily disliked. This episode feels so, so rushed. The added storylines could've easily been added at an earlier date to give Yeowoon's character more depth as up until now he was a mystery. On top of this, the confession scene is unnatural - which ties into my first point. Why on earth would someone's first thought be to confess their love after going through something traumatic like that? I understand the release of emotion, the want to get rid of stress in your mind, but I feel like if they wanted to deliver that, they needed to sell into Yeowoon and his emotions as a character. Make him break down, make his emotions clear. In this scene he is stagnant and it happens out of nowhere. I feel the same way about the kiss scene, which feels forced and out of place. It did not need to happen here and feels added in purely to make the fans happy, which is honestly a horrible position to place it in especially given how PERFECT it would be if they held off on kisses until the final episode.

Episode 6 introduces the social media star storyline which is easily my least favourite aspect of the show, because not only does it not really make any sense in context of the show (obviously the end point does, but even so I have my gripes with that), it feels forced. There is really no need for this episode at all, you could skip all the way up until the ending section and you're really not missing out on anything major. You might be confused for a second or two when they mention stuff about stalkers in future episodes, but there is really NO need for this story at all. In fact, it frustrates me why it was even included because it is such an uncomfortable watch. I was genuinely really on edge watching it and not in a way of anticipation, I was just constantly waiting for it to end. Which, for a show that had been mostly flawless up until the last two episodes, is NOT a good look. That being said, I understand the inclusion of these as storylines. In the drama they are portrayed as side quests, and it makes sense for them to be added, but they are just... uncomfortable watches.

Episode 8 is, however, probably my favourite episode of a BL in ages. The cinematography in this was AMAZING and I would love to see a BL shot in a similar way to Myungha's past life scenes for its entirety. Those scenes reminded me a lot of 'Saltburn' which was a movie I could just NOT stop looking at. They were shot absolutely beautifully and I could not keep my eyes off of the screen, I was peeled. Additionally, the story of it was brilliant. I loved how it was executed, and I think it was the perfect way to end this series. I am not a crier but I did shed a tear seeing them run down the beach together, and it was such a cathartic moment.

As frustrating as this series can be to watch, I am so happy to see that so many people are enjoying it. Do not take my review as the bible, as I think I do need to rewatch this to fully appreciate what it has to offer. However, do definitely give this one the time of day. This is an extremely enjoyable watch and definitely going to be a BL favourite for many, and for good reason. Just maybe not fully for me, but that's my personal gripes as I prefer a story that flows coherently.

Read More

A Pleasant Surprise!

When I began watching this series, my expectations were quite low, especially since I believed it was a sequel. However, it turned out to exceed my expectations, earning a spot on my best-of-2024 list. It encompasses all the elements I love in a Wuxia and Fantasy series: underdog heroes facing crazy obstacles they must fight their way out of and fun adventures.
The main team of four characters was incredibly likable, each with mysterious and interesting backgrounds and unique talents. The romance was slow burn, but not in a frustrating way because the leading heroes had such a BFFmance going on. I found myself thoroughly enjoying every episode, and it's safe to say there was never a dull moment.

Read More

Surprisingly enjoyable

I enjoyed the writers view of this story. I felt they wrote a strong unique view of reincarnation after a tramatic event. And the production did a great job to bring the effort forward. I enjoyed most of the acting. And I love the development of the relationship.

I think my biggest challenge was the way the writer(s) and director wrote Pharm (Intouches soul in Pharms body). I was taken back that he cried so often ( every episode) and over so much. I'm not in their shoes and definitely am not judging. I just think that subtracted from the show for me. I realize the soul was speaking and that something entirely it's own, but it just didn't sit well.

I felt that if you remember your past life and it was bad; you do everything possible to enjoy the new life. Accept your failures, realize your strengths and grow/mature as a person. But most importantly know the past look at it even if it hurts and learn and rise above it. After all, it's your past. You have to move forward and best you can!

Read More

Not at all what I was expecting

My god I don’t think I have ever been more ashamed and embarrassed than I was whilst watching this show for taking the story synopsis and trailer for such immense face-value. I initially thought this show would just be your average, cutesy, puppy-love-type bl (in other words, nothing special lmao), but god it was so much more. I came for Cha Woongki, and left with tears.

Although, my initial assumption of what this show would be wasn’t completely incorrect; it was quite a light show for the most part. The immense puppy-love was there as well, though mostly portrayed in only Yeo Woon’s character. However, this show did have its dark and sensitive topics: Suicide, abuse, abandonment, etc., but to my surprise, the way they handled these topics was outstanding, beautiful even. I won’t go into detail, since I want to keep this review pretty much spoiler free, but I will say that this story probably handled all those dark, sensitive topics, better than most of the stories I’ve seen that contained the same subject matter. Thought, despite the amount of sensitive subject matter, the show still managed to find a good balance between that and the light-hearted scenes, and that is also something that I find beautiful about this show.

The characters were fantastic, and the acting for each character was even better. I’d like to especially mention the acting of the two main leads. Their acting was good to the point where you can almost hear everything the character is thinking and feeling by just looking at their eyes, and that amount of skill that the lead actors showed is something that I find extremely admirable. The characters were also quite complex/multi-faceted, which is part of what made them so entertaining to watch. I will say though that, unfortunately, the side characters were a bit underdeveloped. The story never went into depth with any of the side characters, and we only saw what Tae Myung and Yeo Woon saw. It’s pretty much as if their characters really only served as plot devices. Though, I wouldn't blame the writing, but rather the duration of the series. However, I’d like to treat the underdevelopment of the side characters as a sacrifice for how well developed the two main leads were, because how could a writer possibly have the side characters be as developed as the two leads and the plot given the time constraint.

The cinematography and editing is, with no doubt, one of the best I’ve seen in a piece of media so far. It sounds like an exaggeration, and it could be since I’m too busy geeking out right now to think about all the great cinematography I’ve seen before, but it’s still nonetheless phenomenal lol. Something about the cinematography is so satisfying to watch; the creative camera work, the beautiful coloring that alters depending on the mood of the scene, and the editing to make the show seem more game-like, all just came together so perfectly. The music was pretty good as well, maybe minus a couple songs according to my taste since I’m not a huge fan of just plain pop songs, but that outro song in episode 6 is so good I like shazamed it but nothing popped up so I don’t think it’s released yet, but they better release it soon man I need to add it to my playlist.

Anyways, this show has given me complete hope in bls for 2024. Last year, more specifically the second half, was quite rocky for bls guys I’m not gonna lie. With a show like this, though, I think 2024 has this in the bag with bl for sure. Remember, 2+0+2+4 = Ate (I hate that I can’t put emojis in reviews, this sucks).

Read More

ALL OUT!!

The drama had many great things going on for it until it went through an unfortunate interruption. It built a solid vibe for all the involved characters and gave each one a purpose to dynamically interact with one another. Kim In Ha jumping into sticky situations was always fun, you never knew when would he pull up his signature move, the sneaky high kick! Giving the male lead a solid side kick was the best thing the drama did. Yoo Jong Goo was In Ha's partner through thick and thin. They always came in as a one package and provided the needed duo action. The soundtrack "Like The First Day" got engraved in my brain cavities for how much of a banger it was. However, everything I mentioned evaporated when the drama suddenly poured all its attention into the love square after halfway through. The love square was painfully out of place in all regards, it even went against the characters' writing contradicting itself just to be part of the nasty melo trend. It also shifted its main point of tension to be all about that. The saddest part was the lack of "duo" action after that, we barely got any. Around the end of it, it decided to double down on the melo and have the deplorable trope of two characters pushing each other away to show some kind of "poetic love", yikes! Anyway, the drama was another good example of a great first half only to fumble in its second half. The biggest point of comparison between this drama and "Swallow the Sun (2009)" was its insulting transition and disparity between its 1st and 2nd half.

Read More

YOU MUST SWALLOW!

It started off with a bang and kept its tempo up for another 10 episodes before performing the hardest emergency brake pull ever. At least for that portion, this is what modern day parodies would cite mimicking the exaggerated nature of the melo landscape from late 2000s. Lots of abroad filming with the typical Korean lens of foreign lands, loads of shaky action with tons of cuts for every shot that can rival that one Liam Neeson scene jumping over a fence, plenty of exposed skin akin to the usual Korean broadcast ratings, and all kinds of flashy elements that they could through at us as fast as possible. All of that stopped with the brake slam and the drama turned to the usual slow melo of that time, it was around when they moved the setting back to Korea. Although the earlier parts lacked a real sense of focus and were disjointed as hell but at least they weren't as boring as the 2nd half. On another note, the speedy harsh soundtrack got me exhausted after playing for nth time in every episode. The biggest point of comparison between this drama and "All In (2003)" was its insulting transition and disparity between its 1st and 2nd half.

Read More