Reviews

Expecting Something Spectacular, Got Something Spectacularly Awful

I haven't saw the original movie, but so much went wrong in this show. The original premise wasn't something extraordinary, so I was expecting a spectacular execution. This show is about Cheon Yeo Ri, who could see ghosts by accident. She was able to transmit her curse to other people just by touching them, that she had to mostly isolate herself. Yeo Ri helped a lot of ghosts by finding their remains and secretly reporting their cases to the officials. Ma Gang Uk was a prosecutor who occasionally received her reports and resolved the cases.

Park Eun Bin really shined in this show, she really never disappoints. Yang Se Jong also did a good job as Ma Gang Uk the prosecutor, he had a great chemistry with Eun Bin. Even the villains and supporting casts did well. Unfortunately, all these elite casts and performance were all wasted since the script was practically horrible. I felt bad for Ma Gang Uk. He seemed too good to be trapped in all these stupid conspiracies.

This show doesn't seem to have a stance. I think they didn't want to be catagorized as a mystery or law show and would like to put more focus on the romance, but at the end of the day it just fell between two stools. The ghosts cases disappeared at all after a while, and the main story about ML and FL, even with quite good chemistry between them, somehow felt half-baked. These all happened since the writer put so much focus on overly-entagled company succession problem and a 12 years ago murder case. The romance itself felt sidelined, they even added the most ridiculous plot for the noble-idiocy breakup I've ever seen: superstition. After all of the things they got through, the reason why Yeo Ri got cursed was only explained in a brief time and not even clear. I also didn't get it why Kang Min Hwan really wanted to destroy Reina Hotel. When he realized he dropped something at the murder scene, it was astonishing that instead of returning to the crime scene he hired a truck and tried to crash into Ma Gang Uk!! I mean he didn't even know Gang Uk had picked it up??? The product placements in this show were ridiculous.

I would recommend this show to... no one. Yes the first half was quite watchable, but at the end it drained to the toilet. This could be a stain to Park Eun Bin filmography.

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I really liked the story, the whole pure cop x hitman thing immediately had me interested, even thought the story was relatively restrained to one location is still worked, liked the redemption arc and how the reunion at the end brought everything back full circle. The story was fast-paced, which actually worked really well here, and there were a lot of twists that kept me fully engaged.

I also really liked the relationship between I Do and Tae Jong. They had that very doomed lovers type of dynamic, and the way they genuinely cared for each other was really touching at times. Overall, it was a story that kept me entertained while still giving a lot of emotional moments, KBL is certainly on an incline and hope to see other series follow suit.

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Our cute farmer

Simplicity is really way go beyond expectations. I like the setting so far and the accent.

Though, I wish they have shown us more views about the countryside, I love the setting.

For the music choices its worth adding it on my playlists. The actors did a good job. I said it once before, in Korean BLs its really hard for two couple or lead to act again as couple in another project. So, every time I watch KBL I don't expect much for them to be in another.

I like their relationship and the flow of the story. If you are someone who wants a refreshment from dark romances, or series with lots of plot twists, this can be it.

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disappointed

Despite a strong start in episode 1 & 2, giving us an introduction to the lead couple and their relationship and kidnapping, the next 4 - 5 episodes were a bit difficult to stay focused.

Whether the director intended to portray the lead couple with a flat and distant chemistry I’m not sure but to me they never seemed to be a plausible couple that were once in love with a strong partnership who are now dealing with marital problems. However the tension in their marriage was evident. A lot of the scenes were slow and short focusing mainly on past and current conflicts in the hospital workplace and dealing with the kidnapping. It was if we were given short glimpses rather than the story unfolding. Some of it didn’t flow logically.

There were a few holes in the story line / direction. The most annoying one being the police, even when they knew what the kidnapper looked like, didn’t seem to be out chasing him. The uncovering of the who and the reason behind the kidnapping wasn’t done by police only Dr Kang.

The storyline is compelling and the acting superb. Kim Dae Mung is one scary evil man and manic. Namkoong Min (The Husband) is brilliant deadpan face - Slowly watching and observing. Lee Seol was also very convincing as the kidnapped wife but her support for Kang Tae Ju after the kidnapping didn’t fit with the backstory and character (spoilt rich daddy’s girl) revealed.

I thought the true mastermind behind the kidnapping was obvious right from the beginning. But was wrong he was only an accomplice. The real evil mastermind besides the rogue psychotic kidnapper isn’t apparent until episode 11. Maybe it is the fact that K Dramas keep repeating the same old troupes that many will fail into the trap of jumping to early conclusions.

The backstory of the couple (Dr Kang Tae Ju and Dr Ko Se Yun) was explained slowly with full detail kept until episode 11. The backstory of other characters was revealed later in episode 9 plus and somewhat lacking this for me made watching the drama frustrating. This meant that the motives behind the supporting characters (apart from the obvious greed) didn’t explain the level of violence and brutality or even justify the kidnapping. The criminals were absolutely psychotic and the conspiracy and the masterminds were overdone. Support characters (in the hospital) with suggestive attraction and petty jealousy didn’t add to the suspense. The police were predictably incompetent.

While the story and action did move at a reasonable pace after episode 8, excessive time was spent on repeated memory flash backs. The middle episodes especially were slow and repetitive. The connection between the mastermind and accomplices was unclear until episode 9, by which time I was tired of the repeat conflict between criminals and Dr Kang Tae Ju. These additional interactions and poorly judged actions by Dr Kang just drew out a story that was getting old and boring.

The drama could have been 10 episodes and enjoyable without repetition of mistakes, lack of judgement and repeated mistakes, a tighter script, and less people being unnecessarily part of the background conspiracy.

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Good Start, Terrible Ending

The first part of the show definitely reels you in pretty quickly and wastes no time. The story and conflicts were really unpredictable, and thats a good or a bad thing depending on who you ask, but I liked it. After the death of Wu's ma, however, is when it starts to not make sense at all....In my opinion, they should've stopped the show after Wu and Chi reunited after the mother's death and left it there, and yet they kept dragging it on and the new conflicts after made zero sense and felt totally rushed.

Tolerable acting, repetitive soundtrack, and a flip-flop story. A good drama to watch when you need a show to pass the time, but not a show to watch if you're looking for something that actually takes itself seriously.

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Perfect Crown Review: Where Chaebol Ambition Meets Royal Intrigue

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Perfect Crown K-Drama Review
Perfect Crown is a 12-episode modern royal romance starring IU and Byeon Woo-seok. Set in an alternate Korea where a constitutional monarchy still exists, it follows chaebol heiress Seong Hui-ju, who wants the one thing her wealth cannot buy—royal status—and Grand Prince I-An, a royal with a title but little real power. Their contract marriage gradually turns into genuine love amid palace politics and family conflict.
M
MBC
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Review: ⭐ 8/10

IU: Hui-ju is ambitious, sharp and fiercely independent, making her a refreshing female lead rather than a passive romantic heroine.
Byeon Woo-seok: I-An's restrained personality gives the romance a nice contrast with Hui-ju's aggressive determination.
Chemistry: The biggest strength of the drama. Their contract-marriage setup creates plenty of romantic tension and emotional payoff.
Visuals: The royal setting, costumes and cinematography give the drama a glossy, fairy-tale quality.
Story: The premise is addictive, but some palace and relationship conflicts lean on familiar K-drama tropes. Critics have also pointed to predictable writing despite the show's strong production and cast.

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Not from the novel so there are inconsistencies

It's good... but I expected better. This is not from the novel I am guessing they wrote it themselves but they should have kept things consistent. Like Fah was never a psychiatrist. That's a totally different degree from normal medical. They could have told Fah has taken care of Phoon and Fun since young so he is good with kids or something. Also Fah is definitely not a nice guy in bed that's the reason the doc gang calls him "wolf in sheeps cloths". Although he wouldn't force himself on Phoon he did convince Phoon to do it 99% of the days. They've changed that here and made him a good boy.. Although kids usually don't bother me they shouldn't have had the sister for 80% of the episode. They could have shown Phoon missing his friends that way they could link to the main special episode cz this is right before they meet or they could build a bit on that jealousy and show a wedding or atleast proposal. 5 years and Fah hasn't proposed?? Doesn't seem like Fah. Anyways I'm gonna miss my babies FahPhoon. It was good not the best

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A complete train wreck

A serious contender for the worst season of the worst Korean reality dating show I've watched to date.

It was readily apparent why these men are eternal singles and watching them trample all over the feelings and hopes of a group of mostly fairly nice women was not fun. It's true that this was often unintentional. Some of these guys had good intentions, even if incapable of carrying them out. But that doesn't excuse those others who deserve all the criticism heaped on them as the show aired.

In contrast, the panel was one of the best I've seen so far and the only good thing about this show. I usually complain when they give the panels too much screen time, but not here. I just wish they had been given a better show to watch and comment on.

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Perdi o interesse

esse estava na minha lista já faz um tempinho então iniciei ele no mês passado, só que daí, fiquei enrolando pra continuar e acabei perdendo o interesse total nele! até que é bem engraçado mas não me prendeu mais.. 7.0￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴ ￴￴￴￴￴￴￴￴ ￴

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The songs did it for me

A much younger Fourth and Gemini and their first full series deserves all the recognition. The chemistry is through the roof and the ensemble of artists, though young truly shined. But for me, it’s the music. The Songs. It’s so memorable it’s on my favorite list and I still listen to it now. The song between the mother and son, the words, all who sang in it is so beautiful I even memorized the words. Very few shows has that effect on me but the poignant words about his loss and his fathers dreams and mothers love.

This can never be replicated by Gemini and Fourth because people change when fame hits them. It’s all now about fanship, not about their young dreams and aspirations reflected so clearly I could see them by the two actors in the prime of their youth.

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The standard to beat

I’ve seen Bad Buddy when it first came out but never wrote a review. In the absence of some truly meaningful GMMTV series I decided to rewatch one that always stayed with me. Though I never shipped these two actors, TBH I don’t ship anyone I just like chemistry when I see it. And these two truly reflects real chemistry through friendship and camaraderie. Regardless of how their fans felt I am grateful they both made this and aim sure they will always remember his time together, creating a fun series about an odd couple, oil and water and yet together makes an awesome pair.

I don’t like violence and their relationship softened every blow that I wanted to be a fly on the room they share. I don’t think there has been another like them, maybe High School Frenemy with the same trope and aim glad they ended here. I wanted their careers to grow like my favorite actors from China’s Addicted.

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Heartwarming and Gut-Wrenching

To the Wonder is a moving slice-of-life drama that is both heartwarming and gut-wrenching, just as life truly is.

The Cultural Immersion & Scenery
The scenery as we spend time at the summer ranch is absolutely breathtaking. The gorgeous visuals of the Altai region instantly drew me in, and one of the very first things I noticed is the incredible presence of animals—camels, horses, and sheep weaving naturally into the fabric of daily life. I enjoyed being immersed in Kazakh culture, pastoral traditions, and the rhythm of the seasonal moves.

Characters and Growth
The journey of each character is rich and engaging, but since this is a slice of life and only 8 episodes, we are not privy to everything. The female lead, Wenxiu, character's arc ultimately comes full circle as she learns to embrace the culture and experiences love and heartbreak in more ways than one while collecting experiences for her writing. The actress' performance and characterization of the female lead felt a bit lacking at times. Rather than coming across as a mature, emerging writer on a true coming-of-age path, she occasionally felt a bit too childish, which made her character harder to fully connect with.

Fortunately, the supporting cast shines brilliantly and anchors the story:

Fengxia and Touken: It was fascinating to see the stark contrast in how these two women grieved their husbands in the first part of the drama. Fengxia’s storyline with the motorcycle man is heartbreaking and serves as a powerful, cautionary reminder to be wary of who we let into our lives when we are feeling lonely. One bad person can cause an immense amount of destruction, but watching Fengxia ultimately wake up and take a stand was powerful. Touken demonstrates the hardship that women have when agency is not a given.

Sulitan and Batay: Sulitan’s journey of learning how to let go of a rigid legacy and accept changing times added so much depth. Meanwhile, Yu Shi did a phenomenal job portraying Batai. Learning more about the actor behind the role made it even more impressive: Yu Shi spent six months learning the Kazakh language for the show, and leveraged his extensive real-life training in equestrian arts and horseback archery to not only perform his own stunts but also help coordinate and advise on the horse-riding and action sequences. His physical athleticism combined with such profound tenderheartedness toward horses made his heartbreaking sacrifice utterly soul-crushing. The man is also quite stunning on a horse!

Grandma: She provided wonderful comic relief throughout the series with her constant eating and humorous commentary. She never feels like a burden, but rather an integral family member helping to ground them.

Final Thoughts
While the climax packs a heavy emotional punch, reminding us how high the cost can be when emotion takes the wheel, the story recovers to find healing and grace. My only minor wish is that it hadn't opted for an open ending, as I would have loved more time to explore Batay and Wenxiu. Even so, it is a gem of a show that is worth the watch.

(Show #152)

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This is why time in filming is important

I don't know how long they filmed this but I hope the acting was better. I'm no expert of acting but as a viewer, we are the one watching their scenes and quite frankly I notice the lack of emotion when they act.

Like they are only saying their lines and not really feeling the emotion. There is a high chance of chemistry but they weren't able to execute it. Maybe because it was rushed or maybe the actors are not really feeling their lines and not yet comfortable with each other.

The kissing scenes....they shouldn't include one if the actors are not into it because it looks...dry. I've watched series with no kisses or lack thereof and they still managed because there is time given to build up their chemistry.

I feel the ending, and even all the episodes was always rushed and not really giving us any time to digest what happened. So, it's a little bit disappointing.

It's a great concept though, but I wouldn't rewatch it because there is no scene that really hook me up.

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