Reviews

I always been absolutely in love with spy stories, specially when in comes to WWII. this masterpiece tells story of Ming family, an old and prestigious merchant family of Shanghai during the Japanese occupation time and their efforts to protect their country from Japanese invaders together with their love for each eachother, difference of opinions and their confrontations. I am still fascinated by the family bond between them who gathered together and made Ming family which was more than blood made on love and understanding.

writing is genuine, with a fast pace, full of traps as it was a dangerous era for spies and patriots. as the drama unfold new twists come and you are always kept on your toes to know who works for who and who will survive this.

And for the cast, If you are like me and after Nirvana in Fir left impatient with the desire to see more from Jin Dong, you have a heavenly time here. Ming Lou is what Mei Chang Su was for Nirvana in Fir; He is mysterious, mature, sharp (cynical even at times) with the mind which able to see the slightest details of the possibilities ahead. He is one of the most complicated character of the dramaland and a delight to watch. He's my bais in this drama. and his interaction with his sidekick Ming Chen (played by Wang Kai) is one of the best I've seen ever. the only disappointment for me was the romance story between funny Ming Tai (played by Hu Ge) and stiff communist girl, he fall in love and I didn't get it! but all the way women of the story are badass too and cool to watch. I wished Ming family adopted a girl too just imagine such a badass she would have been.

in a nutshell it's a spy drama plus great twists and some historical lessons on China in that tumultuous era. It has drama, family, friendship, comedy and an exceptionally intellectual plot.just be aware that story is kind of draggy in a few last episodes. and maybe a bit rushed ending, still a great drama ride.

for rewatch value I started to rewatch it again just as I finished it.

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Hi,
Well to start with,I have to mention that this drama is superbly entertaining till the end.
The central character to this drama is Yamaneko meaning 'wildcat' played wonderfully by the talented Kamenashi Kazuya. This Yamaneko's antics make you crazy. He has athlete's foot so expect him in flipflops and rubbing his feet all the time. Secondly he is terrible(bad) singer who loves to sing but hates it when people point out this to him. I wonder how difficult it might have been for Kamenashi to sing that way,considering he is one of the best singers. Thirdly he loves cup noodles. When he is not doing anything,he will be eating cup noodles. Fourth, he occasionally pees in his pants and never accepts it. Fifth,wears cat hats that look so cute on him. Not to mention the weird glasses that he wears.
With all this eccentricity,he is amazingly intelligent and witty. He exposes crimes and criminals with vigor. Has heart of gold and wants japan to see sea of change.

What the good thing about the drama is that the crimes are exposed in a funny and hilarious way. There are cheeky one liners uttered by Yamaneko that make you smile.Never in the drama you will feel bored or sad.
This drama is basically a mystery drama at its core. You will have goosebumps every-time twists and turns unfold. You need to watch the drama till the end to uncover the mystery.

Kamenashi Kazuya is a versatile actor. He has diplayed wide range of emotions in this drama. Along with Kamenashi Kazuya,Narimiya Hiroki as Katsumura Hideo
Hirose Suzu as Takasugi Mao are important characters. The rest of the support cast is excellent. The drama is made on good budget and the product has turned out to be excellent.
This drama definitely needs a sequel.

There are lot of interesting things in this drama that I have purposely left out. You need to watch them.

PS : In episode 6,you will find Nobuta re-union. Horakita Maki will make a cameo.

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Story: The plot is very original and complex as it deals with themes such as human cloning and human rights. I think that the main question that is debated in this drama is if human clones have the same right to life as normal people. The beginning is pretty confusing as you're still trying to figure out the whole mystery behind the story, but every episode is very intriguing and it will make you keep watching. There is also some romance - even a love triangle, but it's not something too heavy. There was a second couple too which I didn't think it will work out in the beginning, but by the time it ended, I've started to really love them.



And about the ending... The way I saw it, I think they just left it open on purpose; everything would have been wrapped up properly if it wasn't for that last scene. In general, I can accept an open ending when they want to leave to the viewer's imagination what the future will bring for the characters, but not when they just throw another twist at the end and leave us with even more questions.



Acting/Cast: There are a few well-known faces in this drama and I was pretty content with their acting, but I was a little bothered by the main lead's reactions every now and then as they seemed a bit exaggerated.



Music: The songs that apperead in the background were all by Hurts and they've mainly used 'Stay' and 'Better Than Love'. It was an unexpected choice of music, but I don't think it was a bad idea because they matched well with the storyline. Also, they kind of give a more dramatic feeling to each scene, especially when they were played at the end of the episode.



Rewatch value: The thing with mysteries is that after you watch them once, your excitement just won't be the same because you already know what will happen. But I won't mind watching this drama again some time in the future.



Overall: There are a lot of good points to this drama - from the mystery that builds up each episode, to the intriguing circle of murders and the very touching moments between the characters. There are also some lacking points, but overall it's pretty good. If you're in the mood for a mystery drama with some psychological elements, this is perfect for you!

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The main problem is the long drawn out scenes that don't know when too end. The beginning prophecy ruined some of the drama for me. It's like reading a book back to front. This drama had a bad ending as well. The crying scenes never felt real and detracted from the feeling being conveyed. The director really liked panning shots that are good for some scenes and turns into an over used nightmare. Overall I liked this drama. The way this was directed has a lot of scenes that should of been cut 30 seconds earlier. I feel that 60 episodes is too long and should of been cut to 40 at most.

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I put this drama down for a long time. By the time I came back to it, I wasn't sure if it was because I got hooked into something else, or if I didn't like the drama itself. However, after picking it up again, I watched it straight through till the end. The drama is typical Taiwanese cheesiness in all it's glory. The over-acting that makes you cringe, the seven different angles on repeat for the intense moments. And a steadfast Roy Chiu giving his infamous pause-and-nod at all the key points.

This drama is worth watching, if only for Roy's fabulously fluffy hairdo. He's absolutely adorable. The characters roused your sympathy, although they didn't make my heart hurt like Fated To Love You. I do recommend this drama if you like the predictable rich guy meets and humiliates the poor girl who changes his life. There were some sad twists that kept the drama fresh.

Enjoy.

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** I haven't seen the original In Time With You. **

I also watched this as it aired.

I really had high hopes for this drama so it was with pig headed determination that I stuck with it despite it getting draggy and slow. The music was probably the best thing in it for me. I did really like the chemistry between the leads and, despite the painstakingly slow development in it, I got drawn into their love story and I adore Ha Ji Won. I really think she saved it! To anyone starting this drama I would say to try stick with it, the story does eventually develop and I really enjoyed the last few episodes that aired.

I wouldn't re-watch this however, it was such hard work to watch the first time around. Overall it's an average drama, that's enjoyable, has pretty good music and not a difficult viewing that serves fine as a simple best friends turned lovers drama.

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"A woman who was born to cry." ~ Basically means she was born into a family that gets paid to cry at noblemen's funerals (I can't believe they actually did that!). That's their job, their duty - what a sad life to have to cry for your money... The daughter doesn't like this so she wants to smile for a living instead thinking it would be better than crying. Then we have our main lead guy who was born half noble (Noble father and gisaeng mother) So he on the other hand hates to smile. These two come across each others path and question each other on why he/she doesn't like to smile/cry - their answers were pretty much the same with different circumstances. They are both suffering individuals of different ranks who sort of heal each other - in a friendship kind of way (I'd like to imagine that their might be something for them in the future) lol ^^

Both Kim Yoo Jung and Seo Jun Yeong did a great job portraying their characters desperate feelings of desire, hate and anguish. and it was nice to see their "change" in the end :)

I don't remember any music besides the little bit Kim Yoo Jung sang on here...

Since I ended up watching it raw, I think I will go back and watch a couple scenes with subs lol - but other than that I think one time through is enough. It's not a boring drama special but it also doesn't have that much to the story either. I think its a decent watch especially if you are watching for a certain actor. For me it was mainly Seo Jun Yeong - but I also like Kim Yoo Jung so she was just an added bonus for me in this :P

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I thought the first episode of Signal was solid. I thought the second episode was fantastic. And then . . . well, then the show decided to go full throttle for “big emotional moments”. There were a lot of explosions, a lot of lurid cases, mostly involving ghastly things done to women, and a whole lot of crying. Despite excellent acting by Kim Hye Soo and Jo Jin Woong and stylish directing, I found myself becoming less and less engaged. Thrillers, especially those that dare to mess with the space-time continuum, demand top-notch writing, and while the script was serviceable, it never fully worked out the logistics of its crisscrossed universes. The actual detective work was also slighted, with its crack team instantly solving crimes that had baffled cops for years. Pinning all the blame for cases turning cold on “corruption” may be satisfying wish-fulfillment, but it felt lazy, especially in a show gunning for gritty realism.

On the plus side, the show's fast pacing tends to paper over the plot holes, but it shortchanges the development of most of the secondary characters. They become “innocent victims” or “evil elites” we’re supposed to mourn or hate simply because of the suffering they endure or inflict on others. Occasionally there are glimpses of greater depth before the show bustles viewers off to the next crime scene, but I would have appreciated fewer set ups and more follow through. The concept is intriguing, but once you unwrap the layers of snazzy time warp packaging you’re left with a pretty ordinary procedural. The present may be able to change the past and vice versa, but the conventions of the crime drama survive unscathed.

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Well, I think sometimes it's important at what time you watch a drama. I'm not talking about morning, afternoon or night. I'm talking about the mood you're in. When this drama aired I was interested but I didn't start it right away. It went on my list but at some point I almost forgot about it. So, now, after watching so many crime dramas and other genres, I kinda misssed the good old revenge melodrama. And there it was, Secret. Right in front of me and it didn't fail any expectations.



Since the synopsis is what made everyone curious about the drama first, it's not like you were thrown into cold water. So, of course I knew what was coming. After showing the key incident, the drama starts quietly to show how everything began. After that, most times it just evolves in a way you maybe already foresee - but in a good way, it's not getting boring or someting. It's more like you're anticipating every new development as you want to know whether your judgement was right or not. It's also not without surprises. There are plenty of surprises as well.



What makes the story and the drama so valuable is the cast. Seriously, this awesome cast! Except for Ji Sung and Bae Su Bin I didn't know anyone of the actors here (ok, some of the supporting roles I've seen already somewhere else, but that's not the point here). I only knew Ji Sung from Protect The Boss where he was really good but didn't make me follow his work further. And as for Bae Su Bin... only saw him in 49 Days but can't recall his acting there since it's been too long. So, at the end I was very surprised by all those astonishing actors esp. him. He totally nailed his role here and kinda changed my view of him. So, overall all of them never failed to impress me. Whether it was the bad guys or the good guys or the good ones who turned bad or vice versa. At no point I was ever annoyed by their actions or behaviour whether they acted just like jerks or hypocrites or threw stones in the good guys' ways. I could always comprehend their actions and even loved those moments.



In the end that's the most charming point of this drama, the acting, plus a good script. There are some scenes where you think: 'If that didn't happen, things would have turned out different. She would have ended up with someone else.' It's rare, that I have those thoughts about a drama.



Furthermore, you can actually see the character development here. Not from one person or two but everyone. That's quite enjoyable because you don't have to worry that one of them might fail your expectations. I have to admit, some side characters remained a bit shallow and at some point it bothered me. But in the end I think I can forgive that. (I'm even a little surprised at how the company thing turned out in the end.)



If I had watched this drama when it aired, I don't think I would have had the same feelings towards it. Don't get me wrong, it would still not have effected the rating. Just the feeling would have been somewhat different although I don't know how to explain it.



At some point I thought I wouldn't want to rewatch the drama because the same anxiousness wouldn't be there or at least be the same as the first time. But now I think different. The first half of the drama was very intriguing, watching that vengeful person slowly turning and not being able to resist any longer in the end.



So, to cut it short: I enjoyed this drama very much!

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