Reviews

50 hours long but worth it

This is the first time I've written a review here. I am so appreciative of the reviews on MDL and the time people take to write them, so I wanted to do my part and encourage people to watch this excellent drama! Fifty hours for a single drama (100 half-hour episodes) seemed intimidating, but this show is very binge-worthy! The story flows so well, with so many moving parts all fitting neatly together, I just kept clicking on the next episode.

The drama centers on the Song family and their neighbors at Yongju market, where the family has a fried chicken shop. While the series abounds in staples of a kdrama rom-com (a contract relationship, fake girlfriend, lost sibling, and an imposter relative, etc, etc), the characters were incredibly well-written and relatable, with realistic problems.

The family members include:
Patriarch Song Young Dal: generous and good-hearted (though a skinflint with the family budget), he carries a burden of guilt from childhood for leaving his sister when they were orphaned and he was unable to care for her.

Mother Jang Ok Boon: hot tempered yet fiercely protective of her children, three of whom are still living at home.

Oldest child and only son Song Joon Sun, a stuntman who has inherited his father's good heart. His generous impulses have ruined him financially and wrecked his marriage.

Oldest daughter Song Ga Hee, who left her cheating husband and is struggling to support her son.

Middle daughter Song Na Hee, a pediatrician with her husband Yoon Gyu Jin in the same profession. Her parents are very proud of her career and stable marriage, and consider her the most successful of their children. However, not all is as it seems.

Youngest daughter Song Da Hee, who is engaged to a fiancé with social and financial advantages. Here as well things don't turn out quite as expected.

Everyone has obstacles to overcome and issues to resolve., and manages to grow working through these personal challenges as the story goes on.

I would say Song Na Hee and her husband Yoon Gyu Jin are the primary characters. Their marriage is strained by life events and affected by their poor communication. Song Na Hee is whip smart, logical and emotionally distant. Yoon Gyu Jin is popular and friendly but not very mature. Their love story is touching and painful. You really feel for both of them.

My favorite romance by far is that of Da Hee, the youngest daughter, and Yoon Jae Suk, who is actually Yoon Gyu Jin's brother. They are both lovable goofballs. Their love story is so cute and quite a counterpoint to Na Hee and Gyu Jin, as they seem so attuned to each other's feelings and so kind and supportive of each other. I just loved it and admit I went back and re-watched all their scenes. They were just so hilarious together.

There are many other minor characters with their own story lines, all entertaining and nicely integrated into the overall plot. The humor was fantastic, and the actors were so well cast.

OST: I really liked the music, and I normally don't even pay attention to the sound track at all. I actually downloaded two of the songs: Love is Danger by Raina & Song Yu Vin, and Spring Breeze by Lee Moon See.

I rated the show 9.5 - some of the storylines were a little predictable, or too neatly tied up in the end, so not a perfect 10.

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Yes, Yes and YES

This season was definitely better than season one. All couples were splendid but you’ll definitely like two of three the best. The kisses were delicious and well done except for one of the main couple (who has the dude that looks just like seungmin from stray kids) who gave stiff kisses but where they lacked in kissing they had some of the sweetest moments giving us everything else.
The show itself had good plots but I will say there was too much screen time for a certain character and it wouldn’t have been bad if only the writers and directors divulged and explored that certain storyline further. I still have many unanswered questions.
The actual editing of the show could have been a lot better. There were several scenes where you could see the boom mic and choppy editing with certain scenes where you can tell they were from several different takes.
Other than that everything else was well done. Especially the casting! So glad they got to explore and do more with the storyline and script this time around. Hopefully we’ll get more in the future!!!

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I didn’t enjoy this drama, I suffered it

I'll start by saying that it's not a bad show. In fact, it keeps you hooked to see what comes next. And I loved the chemistry between the three couples.

But I have so many things to say about this, so let me start with a question: is this about a journalist who doesn't understand the importance of good communication? Really?

Isn't discernment (the ability to evaluate what is good, and what is bad) one of the essential skills of a journalist? However, the female lead blindly followed the awful advice she got from her best friend. Did she really believe that starting a relationship with lies and pretending was going to have positive results in the future? I think that's what bothered me the most about this series.

And I really hated the friend. With so many tricks, secrets and lies in her relationships, she didn't deserve a happy ending.

Another thing that annoyed me was that sometimes the FL was very bold and when he responded, she ran away like a scolded puppy.

Now, let's talk about the second female lead. She was so cute and persistent. I understand that the idea was to fight for what you want, but to what extent do you have to “beg for love”? To what extent do you give up your dignity to try to attract someone who is not interested in you, even pretending to be something you are not? Was the idea to pursue him until he accepted out of exhaustion? In any case, I liked the evolution of her character, going from a shallow girl to a woman with interests and goals.

On the other hand, there are the three male characters, which I thought were good, and I loved how they looked together in one of the scenes in the lasts chapters.

The ML was pretty deadpan, but I guess that's how the character was written. The teacher was my favorite, with his serenity. The third, who carried a certain sadness within him, matured as the plot progressed.

Another issue that bothered me about the series has to do with journalism. I don't know what it's like in China, but as a journalist, you don't give the interviewee the draft of the interview to approve, unless it's an advertorial. You're also not afraid to interview someone because you might suddenly fall in love if you get to know him better. This is just a professional interview, not a date.

In any case, it is better not to analyze these professional issues too much and enjoy the drama.

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Worth Watching for Just One Role

As much as I enjoyed the drama, it was mostly for just the Din character played by Mike Angelo. It's not unusual for a teenager to go through many emotional turmoils but Mike made this boy real and nuanced.

The storyline was captivating, and I noticed Thai dramas often strive for more original scenarios. However, it was unusual that I cared for only one character, while the rest were annoying.

***My general reflections. Spoilers galore so don't read if you don't want to know***

Before Darakan marries she has an illegitimate son Jang by another man. She leaves him in a shrine, where she visits him frequently, while her legitimate son Din is left behind. Although by the end of the series it's said that she tried to love them both (because it's a rule in Asian dramas to forgive your parents no matter how bad they are) throughout the series we see she really didn't love Din, and whenever she showed any concern for him it was either out of duty or guilt. Esp. when we compare her behaviour towards Jang when he comes to live with them. We can see that the things she does for him, like personally cooking, decorating his room, throwing a party for his friends etc. etc. she never did for Din. And she does it in front of him not even once stopping to think how indelicate it is. Even when she does something for Din, like when trying to separate Jang from his girlfriend, it's not to make Din really happy, but because she worries Din's relationship with Jang could worsen. She's very happy seeing her husband accepting Jang as his own son and giving him a major position in the company, and not even once she worries how her other son will take it. Whats more, she didn't see it fit to find 5 minutes to talk to her other son and explain that he has a brother who will be joining them. Din learnt about it in the most awful way, and since he loved her he didn't even want to believe it was true because he didn't want to think about her as an easy woman. By the end, we see how she worries that Jang is in grave danger but doesn't try to stop Din when he's going to put himself in the same danger to save his brother for his mother. So every time Darakan says she loves Din or loves both her sons equally it comes off as hypocrisy, and I'm not surprised Din doesn't even want to listen to it.

Din takes it all really badly and grows up as a messed teenager. However, under the violent surface there's a loving, caring and loyal boy ready to do anything for the people he loves. Whenever it really matters he's selfless towards his father, mother, and Dongyiwa. At the same time his "better" brother is very quick to turn against anyone, including his girlfriend, over the smallest misunderstandings.

It's ironic that Din is again and again accused of being inconsiderate, while he's always the first to stop and think how others must feel. Even when standing in front of the dilemma of getting rid of Jang his biggest concern is it'd make his mother sad because she loves Jang so much. Neither Jang nor his mother ever do something like that for him unless pointed out by others, and often not even then.

Thus said, I wasn't crazy about Jang character even though it was the main role. He was nice to everybody because it's how he was raised but he wasn't that much better than Din. We can see it when he turns as violent as Din messing up the company's contract, or when he defends his friends who beat up Din, even though one of them was kicking a bleeding person on the ground. All he had to say was that his friends didn't know Din was his brother. Unlike Din, however, he's given many chances. And whenever he fails he can try again with the support of others. Din never gets a chance to do anything, no matter how hard he tries.

Then there is Dongyiwa, a girl both brother fall for. First Din, and it seems for a moment like they might hit it off, but then she meets Jang and it's clear which brother she prefers. I mostly found her annoying. Din liked her because it seemed like they could be honest with each other, to which she pays him with such an amount of dishonesty, leading him on and misusing for her father's or Jang's benefit that it's really sorry to watch. To top it off she considers herself a martyr who has to spend time with Din against her will, as if she couldn't just tell him that she doesn't care for him 20 episodes earlier. In the end she just accuses Din of not really loving her but only wanting her to win a rivalry with his brother, which is neither true nor fair considering he told her he liked her long before he even knew he had a brother and how respectful he was towards her feelings once he knew them.

As much as Dongyiwa and Din had some chemistry, I found her romance with Jang lukewarm, so I didn't care about their ending. I wish for a better ending for Din though, because Teresa is just a random leftover from his brother while Din is a character who deserves real love.

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best family drama who leaves me crying ...

It turned out one of my fav drama. Acting skills , cast , and all are perfect.? The song also beautiful ,melts my heart?. This drama is too relatable to us and heart touching. There is a lot funny moments ,it rememberes us of our childhood. I really liked this drama. You can watch this without any doubt .
Their childhood days are really memorable and enjoyable .
I started watching this drama because of my fav actor steven zhang, now i'm in love with this drama. I don't want this to end , but all good things has to come an end .
this drama tells us how the small incidents in family leaves a great significance in childs psycology ...

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Do not hesitate because of rating

I just finished the drama and I love it more now, than when I started. I am so glad I did not dropped it just because it rated at only 8.0 on Mydramalist. I continue just because of the wonderful casts and my beliefs in them delivering their best. It didn’t disappoint. The acting were superb, the dialogues were engaging and at times captivating, the story was interesting and satisfying.
Sure it has some flaws in the last few episodes, where some scenes seemed jumpy and some matters were not properly explained. But the whole story makes up for the small imperfections. Congratulations to the production house and its crew for an excellent drama.
While I do love Yang Hua & Qin Shi together, I actually secretly don’t mind if Qin Shi ended up with Tao Junhui. LZF is excellent as TJ. His uncomfortableness every single time YH name was brought up by whoever are just so well done. TJ and QS interactions with each other were just next level, its like they understood each other beyond the spoken words.
But of course YH and QS are the ultimate couple, who wouldn’t want a partner like that, who supports you not only at home but at work too. YH unconditional love is just what a person like QS needs.
I love the bosses Chen & Hui, both their kindness and meanness. Li Dai to me is annoying. She seeks too much help in her work from others. Qin Shi is always the better lawyer than her, but her character adds flavor to the story so I can live with that, just like all the family and office members.
Its so unfair and sad that the drama rating is not higher than 8 .

Can we have a two hour movie please to satisfy our unfulfilled desires to watch more of YH & QS ? ;)

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no storyline + great cast = total mess

This drama is really cute and enjoyable until ep 8 till they started dating but after this there is nothing more than continuation of gazing at each other , laughing , cooking and eating , dating . the male lead who is doctor and voice dubbing actor who did not even have time for his own sleep but has time for dating .
This drama is more than unrealistic , a normal college girl got her idol as her boyfriend who is not only famous but also gentle , handsome , rich , knows to cook , he is in excellence in everything . i did not even like the fact that they fall for each other just because of their voices ,,,
I also don't like that female lead Always sees male lead as her idon not as her boyfriend and say yed to everything to him , i really do not like naive girls ...

as for the rest cast , all of these has a very easy going life like a dream with no hardships , in which although some has their company and are doctors but still they are free to do anything ...

although i like acting of cast members but it is a hollow shell in which there is nothing to watch , we are not watching dramas just to see someone dating and kissing ..

i love dramas which are quite realistic and shows true face of society and hardship ...

as a big fan of tan jianci , i try to hold myself till now but i am really disappointed ...lets see him again in future .....

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Vampire Diaries

The poorly written prologue wasn't a good sign going into this drama. The leads didn't develop their relationship naturally, most of what we got to signify their romance was long dreamy stares. That's pure lazy writing. This what their romance was based off which made it hard to care about their romance, let alone their unmatched chemistry. If we were to ignore the romance, then we are left with the vampires which were equally lacking. The pacing of the storyline seemed uneven, resulting in moments of sluggishness followed by rushed progress. The bad guy barely showed up in the first half. Although I didn't expect much but the ending was just too boring.

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Political intervention

A boring start, it certainly took some time to get going. Even then, it wasn't a smooth sailing after that. Whenever the drama managed to pick up a good momentum, they shove in a massive intervention with their palace politics. Disrupting the flow and the main attraction of the drama. Like pulling the sheets away on a cold winter night. Which is why this was its biggest problem, being wrapped around politics instead of giving it its independence. This was easier for the writers so they don't have to go into too much details and technicalities, instead auto generate some mindless palace drama to fill the gaps. I found the ending to be quite distasteful to this man's journey.

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Hmmmm....

Granted I watched this years ago, when I was first getting into K-dramas. At that time, I only knew who Park Seo Joon was, and I watched it for him. I struggled with this one because it didn't seem to know what it wanted to be, it slipped from slapstick comedy to melodrama in the blink of an eye. Which wouldn't be too bad, but it was back and forth between the two for most of the show.

I loved the bromance aspect of it. I didn't buy the romance much.

Since I seem to be in the minority, if you haven't watched it, and are considering it, give it a go. There's certainly enough eye candy to keep a person happy!

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Mask off

I found the main cast to be quite dislikable. Heo Joon Ho was the only one who had a decent performance. Yoo Seung Ho was overexaggerating with every breath and Kim So Hyun was a plank of wood. Their characters were equally as bad and underdelivering. The most important plot device in the drama was the mask, however, although its introduction was okay, but how they handled it later on was disappointing and its conclusion and reveal made the whole journey worthless to care about the mask. At the beginning, I thought they would do something clever with the mask play but it turned out it was just some random element to kick-start the story and give the drama its title.

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Really boring and unrealistic

I really tried holding onto this show in hope I would start enjoying it but this is really one of those over rated dramas because of the leads … It might be just not my cup of tea but this really do not have any story at all also it’s too unrealistic and fake to feel anything in it … like seriously they just listened to each other’s voice and fell in love … like this drama just started and they are already together … slow paced dramas are great if they have a story in them … but this is just too boring .
Maybe the writer is just fulfilling her unrealistic dream through this … she just created a perfect boyfriend for her .

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It's a good drama. But even though it was a very calm drama, I expected more romance. The main actors had a lot of chemistry in the beginning, but in the last episode I couldn't identify all that passion and chemistry. However, it's worth watching, it's cute and calm.

The drama is slow, I believe it is good to watch if you like calm dramas or if you have just watched something very heavy.
However, he talks about important subjects such as murd*r, mental illness (although not as explored, I wish it had been), abuse at work, harassment, school violence and trauma. Even though it was calm, this part was well explored.

The second couple, the teenagers, had more development in their relationship than the main couple, which saddened me because the scene between the two would have been really beautiful. I hope they are recruited for another drama together, this time exploring the ''romantic comedy'' part of the actors.

Anyway, it's a good drama. I recommend.
11/12/2023 - Brazil, Rio.

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Don't miss this

It has been a while, I have not enjoyed a series like I have for this. I like main characters, the supporting crews.
The plot can be serious and entertaining the same time.
It covers romance, love and sacrifice for the country, friendship , with some touching and meaningful dialogue.
The love between an assassin and group leader started when the assassin wanted to have a baby with the group leader who has character, quality that fits her expectation, love developed as they worked together as team to save the emperor who was held hostage. I have to say this is one kind of love I would envy, more than some modern love stories I have watched lately. Supporting each other, trusting , respect with some meaningful and Not cheesy dialogue. I am convinced about their love.
The supporting crews are interesting too. The fighting scenes are well made.
I am glad to find this series to fill my time.
****Spoiler alert*******The ending may not be well liked and kind of rush, not as good as front part, but it is war time, no matter how great the fighters they are, they are still a small group against a huge troop army before the help arrives, it is a tough battle (I will not pick on few loopholes, as overall, it is well made). The little boy most likely from someone who named their kids , as remembrance of their heroic sacrifices and legacy (the boy mentioned uncle Ding, another squad member). They live in memory.

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Magic Knights!

I wanted Lee Kwang Soo to take on a meatier role in that drama, but alas, he was just there as a guest. I usually like Choi Won Young in serious roles but I hate Choi Won Young when he pretends to be looking serious which was what he went for in this drama. Don't expect a 20-episodes worth of content, it was mostly a boring slice of life cosplay-drama with little to no story. As shallow and thin as the slice of pizza you would get from your teacher shared between 40 students. You technically ate, I guess? The gags, the tomfoolery and the pizazz that filled its content were all unpleasant to watch. The romance and the relationships aren't even worth talking about, a total joke!

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