Reviews

Show didn't know what it wanted to be

So, the last time I left a negative review of a relatively popular Kdrama, someone actually created an account to tell me how much they hated me. LOL. I continue to be befuddled by this confounding behaviour and would like to tell everyone who has the knee-jerk reaction to do this to please cool your heels, touch some grass, and realise that my opinion will not destroy your world. Also, I'm sure Rowoon can survive my bad review, promise.

Anyway, long story short - I really, really wanted to like this. Trust me - I wanted to squee along with most people, but I couldn't. Destined With You was a mess in terms of plot structure. It tried too hard to be everything and ended up becoming nothing. I was terminally bored throughout because there were a lot of filler characters doing pointless things when all I wanted was to find out what was up with the curse, what's up with our couple and their past lives. But these kept getting pushed back until when all was revealed, I was like, thank God it's over.

In the end, Show was just messy. Too many plot threads that ended unsatisfactorily. It’s an extreme manifestation of the current K-Drama trend to shove a mystery/murder/reincarnation plot line in a romance and done in such a way that it distracted rather than enhanced the story.

So, yeah, what a wasted opportunity, my friends. It could've been better.

You can read my full review here: https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/2023/10/14/destined-with-you-review/

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Bite Sized Saga

An excellent drama roller coaster ride. From the white truck of death/doom to the ear bleeding screams of angry women throwing tantrums, this show has a lot going for it. It's a murder mystery and chaebol family drama rolled into a 15 one hour episode mini-saga with a two finale episode.

The main characters are solid and well played. The character development is well told. Most of the main and supporting cast play their characters well enough to be relatable or create feelings about them and their situations. There's a fair amount of laughing at, crying with and getting mad for them throughout the show. The cast is also mostly attractive or otherwise fitting their character.

The music is pretty good, depending on your tastes, but the BGM fits each scene well. It's a great OST. I like the makeup and costumes also. The costume styles are very particular to the characters, right down to the nail polish or handkerchief. The sets are beautiful and fitting for each character and scene. The lighting and set designs cater to each character even.

The "who done it?" part of the story kept me guessing after every other episode. After the first few episodes, you think you know what's going on, but you change your mind at least twice by the big reveal episodes. I like how they wrap up the character storylines during the end credits also. Good or bad, every major character gets an ending of some kind.

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Like:
+ The story is pretty interesting. I like the plot of childhood friends meeting after a long time period and come closer again. And it's definitely different from the shows I watched before about this topic.
+ The start was really good. I liked the pace in which the story was told.
+ We get enough information to stay interested, but not too much to get bored after revealing everything all at once. It was a pretty exciting show.
+ It's pretty serious. Talks about serious topics and I think it would be important to put a content warning in it, but I guess we are not that progressive that shows have such things like books. ^^'
+ The production is nice. The different color shadings in different kind of scenes were nice to watch.
+ I really like the soundtrack!
+ They choosed child actors who actually fit to the adult version of them!
+ The actors were all good. Imho not absolutely great, but they did an okay job. I was a bit awkward in emotional scenes, but the more intimate scenes were great! Didn't make me uncomfortable at all and weren't overdone. It was sensitive and nice to watch without having to cringe about.

Room for improvement:
- I didn't really feel the chemistry between the actors. The actors were a bit stiff sometimes.. even tough I remember that I liked the actor of Ren more. He was a bit more charming I guess.
- The ending.. I think, after like episode 5 or 6, it was just too dragged with a lot of flashbacks. They should have told more about the story (I still have some open questions..) instead of dragging it for like forever with flashbacks and useless repetitions.
- After a good start it was a bit disappointing that they lost it towards the end. The pace was annoying and the open questions bother me.
- The ending was too rushed.

Overall I liked this drama. It was interesting, exciting, sensual and didn't make me uncomfortable with the scenes with a lot of naked skin. I am a really open person, but shows sometimes tend to make it weird and awkward with intimate scenes. But this one was well done. Although the actors were sometimes too stiff, these scenes were absolutely great (by both actors!)
I even wished for more intimate scenes with some progress in their relationship to show how they come closer and more comfortable with each other.

Normally I am more into fluffy RomComs (at least this is what I watched since I started with asian shows) but I really really liked this show. I didn't expect it, tbh, because I watched a lot of dramas in the last days, which weren't that good. So "Tokyo in April is..." was a great, refreshing surprise, even if it's definitely more serious and not fluffy at all.

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An okay watch

was going okay till ep 4 .... but i am going to skip to the final episode
edit - okay so i skipped to the final episode and found that the female lead too gets into the spying industry, a source to be specific and her ex husband and her do a mission together and after it's success they drink wine, talk and see their fortunes and the episode ends with them kissing, maybe the feelings are rekindled.
meanwhile fl's husband is alive (he was a spy too and was declared dead) and fl comes across him thinking it's a coincidence (they don't meet or talk tho) but it is not ! when she recognizes him she runs after him but he disappears but before disappearing he leaves a pin (used by dressmakers to pin fabrics) on fl's coffee table.

so even if you skip a few episodes from the mid of the series you won't miss too much.

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Drowning into deep fanstastic drama

Seriously Japan’s dramas gives a different vibe and pulls all kind of fans into them I love it there isn’t much complicate scripts and stories just a very simple drama with 2 boys how they met and got into relationship without much deep conversations I like it they don’t seem to give any intense romantic scenes but just a kiss with different vibe I mean their voices and expressions feels like we are in the script it really drag us into it omg the acting of cast were good I like when goofy boy falls in love with cool type guys I enjoyed this drama every week and waiting for updates I hope I can see them In new series all the best to them team

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Cliche but worth it

This drama has really gotten me out of my kdrama slump this year, I like how it’s cliche but still has a plot that’ll draw you in. There’s many dramas right now but this one really caught my attention, and the chemistry just hits different. A lot of people said it’s cringe and I thought I would hate it because I don’t typically like cringe plots but this one is the “good” cringe where I just laugh at it. I’m gonna be honest and say this is the 2nd drama that has made me giggle to myself and rewatch multiple scenes. The only things I dislike about this drama is that they could’ve gave the female lead a better character because her character is way too naive and I know for a fact that my girl Jo Boah can pull off any characters so they could’ve just gave her a badass role like the character in her past life. Not much to say about rowoon because i’m not really a fan of him but i’ve got to say that he’s improved a lot, and his drama has really helped him showcase his true potential. All in all, I give this drama a 10/10 because it’s everything I’ve been looking for in a kdrama for a while.

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I am not typically into heavy melodrama, unless I count those teenage years of watching British shows about royals, or those childhood days of watching Hong Kong drama series about corrupt cops and dishonorable politicians. But Youth of May was a surprising pick that brought up memories of Martial Law when I was living in my home country. While my experience with martial law pales in comparison to the martial law imposed during the Gwangju uprising, this drama certainly puts into perspective how people have suffered and sacrificed their lives in the fight for democracy.

The drama starts with the discovery of the remains of one of the victims of that fateful event in 1980, but we don’t know who had died. It could be any of the characters the drama will introduce later, except we know that a broken pocket watch was found along with the ruined corpse, and that watch could belong to anyone. So there will be death, we’re almost sure of that, and it would not be pretty.

Then the show takes us back to the days before the uprising, when innocence and love can still bloom despite the political oppression surrounding the area. The chance meeting of a nurse and a medical student turns out to be destined, as fate later brings Hee Tae and Myung Hee together when the latter’s bestie asks her to stand-in as proxy for her blind date with the son of the Head of the Anti-Communist Investigation. This arranged date was supposed to bring the two families together as political allies, with the Hwangs gaining a rich businessman as an in-law and their resources to facilitate the government, while the Lees try to take advantage of political clout to release Soo Ryun and her friends from being incarcerated.

But of course, the activism in Soo Ryun doesn’t allow her to collude with the opposition as she and her friends regard Hee Tae’s father as no more than a government lackey intent on suppressing the democratic freedom of its people. At first, it was funny how Soo Ryun coaches her best friend on how to be rejected by a suitor, but all the tricks and tips Myung Hee deployed did not prevent Hee Tae from wanting to see her again. Although Myung Hee does not seem to mind the affections bestowed upon her, she realizes that she cannot entertain these feelings as she plans to leave the country in a few weeks.

Undeterred, Hee Tae launches an all-out charm offensive, despite his father’s warnings, and pleads with Myung Hee to take a chance on him, even if it’s momentary. The chemistry between Myung Hee and Hee Tae is palpable on screen. Lee Do Hyun’s playfulness balances out Go Min Si’s wistfulness, and they are certainly better matched than Lee Do Hyun with Song Hye Kyo (that romantic pairing as dry as a flatbread). Both leads brought their A-game to this drama and carried so much weight that their characters, despite their flaws, are humanized. The rest of the cast also bring life and color to their respective roles, even the actor portraying the hated Ki Nam who lords over the city, or the actors playing Soo Chan and Soo Ryun who were grappling with the dilemma that their protected status almost exempts them from further investigation, while the poor suffers injustice.

The cinematography and fashion are on point as it paints the 80s cultural vibe against a political backdrop, where they separate the haves and have-nots. The pacing of the plot also sets the urgency of living in the moment when they still can and while Hee Tae and Myung Hee navigate their feelings for each other, they are faced with the reality of the struggles happening around them. Their personal choices on continuing with their star-crossed romance hinge on the plight of their friends and the citizens of Gwangju. Whereas Hee Tae wants to hightail out of the city at the first real sign of political trouble, Myung Hee feels obligated to stay and help those who are victimized by the soldiers.

Although I should commend Myung Hee’s compassionate nature, I sometimes got irritated at her reluctance to leave that put herself and Hee Tae in dangerous situations. Following in her footsteps is her brother who also decides it was a good idea to bolt when he feels like it and causing his sister grief. If only he stayed in place where he should, Myung Hee wouldn’t have gone and tried to save him more than once. Their father is no better, with his attempts to cross military zones and roads that have been closed due to volatile circumstances. Everyone seems to be trying to be a hero and recklessly go into perilous situations that can be avoided.

I understand that cowering and hiding inside your own house is not the solution either, nor I am suggesting that the government at the time had the right to impose martial law or that the soldiers are justified in beating innocent people senseless just because they look like students who are about to protest, but when the situation calls for you staying inside your house for your own safety, I don’t see why you would go out of your way to incur danger.

So kudos to those who are brave enough to die for their beliefs; without them, there will be no calls for change. And Youth of May serves as a reminder that those who came before us paved the way for a better future.

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It was cute

Me? I actually really enjoyed this drama!

Was it perfect? No. The tie-in of the past and present storylines was unspeakably bad, and to be completely honest, the premise wasn't all that original and the execution could have certainly been better.

But I found myself smiling each and every episode because of the playful and endearingly silly relationship between the main couple. Rowoon really acted his ass off in this one and I really liked his and Bo-Ah's energy together. I laughed a lot during the first few episodes when he was waging an internal war with himself over his feelings for Hong Jo.

I think Destined With You has good re-watch potential, if only to watch the main couple slowly fall in love again (I'd skip all the scenes about the secondary characters' plotlines, since none of them proved to be all that interesting or important). Plus, I'm obsessed with the slow solo-piano version of I'll Always Be With You.

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What a wasted potential ?

This is the story of low level civil servant, orphan, bullied, insecure and lonely, getting entangled in magic with a lawyer.

BIG HOPES: the initial plot and characters that was PROMISING a classic fantasy melodrama and starcrossed lovers whose characters grow together and find each other …

But somehow, along the way -very early-it got tacky.

What i liked:
- they had a cute intricate melody for magic and general ost was nice

- Early episodes (1-4) really had a witty comedy even if it was cringe( still happening by the end but its sparse and mostly off )

- I liked trying to guess the rules of this magical world and the mysteries along the plot ( in the beginning)

- FL development is among my fav element of a show: i loved that we see her evolve and the actress really showed a nice progression ( but it was still a bit inconsistent, feels skipped and weird!!)

What i didn’t like:
- without spoiling, early on the ML actions suggest some toxic behaviour , that even if addressed by the other characters, it really was a low from the writers , especially how they reveal events related to that part. I totally disconnected from the romantic side of the story

- The magic mystery itself 😢 while i love fantasy in the real world and making it subtle, sometimes it was sooo subtle we were constantly being thrown off/ON the magic.

- The characters: while they could all potentially be great characters ( in their own roles to the story) each character had something off and unrealistic making us disconnect further with the story. Especially the main leads.

- The MOST ANNOYING EKEMENT: Witholding information from the viewer: this is a show that constantly hides parts of a scene to reveal it later, while it can be really nice if well done, it was sooo overdone and annoying in this show. We were expected to root for the FL and ML from a short reveal from the past? This made the story / engagement of the viewer forced. I felt tricked by the writers hiding a lazy evolution of the story to buy minutes…

- This brings the last point: we remain confused for most of the show … the main story is not clear as if random scenes were patched together.. it lacked cohesiveness…

I had read in some comments that the writer’s last work before this one dates back to 2018, which may explain the choppy scenes?

Overall, the show felt shallow, often redundant. the viewer is almost always left guessing.

I really wanted to love this show because it had a nice idea!! But it was shabby with no meat… the actors did great often but it wasn’t enough…

I was left disconnected from the story . My neurones weren’t ‘coupling’ with the story ( it’s an inside joke from the story) …

I still want to finish my review on a positive note because some episodes were really nice so :
- Shout out to the main actors who did their best to bring these characters to life considering the script ( some lines were really cringe but it turned out witty or really funny !)
- I liked the general atmosphere of the world in this show and cinematic quality.

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Boring storyline

Even the leads cant save this one for me! This drama is extremely boring.. I dont know how people can get though this drama. The storyline doesnt have anything that makes it stand out/ interesting. The second leads get a kiss and more before the main leads even get together... like who is suppose to be the main lead..... I was waiting on the leads romance but its taking forever and a day for them to be together. What happen to Xu lu ? this is the second drama of her recently that I dropped...

I really wanted to like this drama but i cant stand it lol. Watch at your own risk.

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Life & emotions

Who plays the main role of your life? How do you play the main role?

Here is another proof that you do not need huge budgets to make an extraordinary drama. Writing, writing, writing! Someone should tell this to K drama and thai bl screenplay writers....

On the surface a simple story of young people on the cusp of adulthood: finishing school, looking for job, finding love, figuring out who they are and what they strive to become. Slice of life drama, about 12 young people and their main life questions shown, explained and solved in a series of short but tight and to the point vignettes. The characters are a bit stereotypical but the drama is better for it since it talks to everyone.

And we have all been there: how to become a responsible adult?

The acting is top notch especially the actor playing the empath, someone with capacity to understand other people's emotions beyond the ordinary. He brings solace and proposes solutions for his friends' questions about life.

This web drama has that indie feel, the cinematography is actually pretty good since it correspond to the feelings the characters are trying to figure out: sometimes sunny, sometimes blue, sometimes sad.

Definitely worth the watch!

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I know I stand alone but I did not get the hype.

I've loved Park Bo Young since Strong Woman and this was my first drama with Seo In Guk so I was optimistic, but this show was just ugh. There was no chemistry between them and even though many k-dramas have their leads barely meet and suddenly be in love for no real reason, I feel like that was extra atrocious in this show. I finished it but only because I felt like if I didn't, I would've wasted the seven hours it took me to get halfway through it.

Maybe it's because her chemistry with Park Hyung Sik was off the charts, and so this in comparison is awful, but I don't know because I watched this BECAUSE people said it was their fave drama ever. The other reason I finished this is because I didn't want to have multiple dramas I quit (I had just quit Kill Me Heal Me because the main female lead is absolutely insufferable).

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Repititve storyline

Season 1 was great. Though it was not my usual cup of drama, the plot kept me on edge and I binged through the whole season. Moving on to Seasons 2 and 3, I realised the storyline is pretty much repeating.
It's just stupid, rich, snobby people who think they can get away with anything with their wealth.
Killing people for personal gain and then their loved ones seeking justice and revenge for the dead ones.
I'm sooooooooo sick of people coming back from the dead.

Watching The Penthouse I realised that it does not have THAT big of a story. No, the storyline was predictable and ordinary. The only reason it gained huge success was the execution of the plot. It's remarkable how well the did the production and execution of The Penthouse. And the acting? Top-notch acting skills and a great cast. Everyone did their role well.

So, the drama was ok, ig? But I'm not up for a rewatch though.

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