Reviews

Those Foolish Humans

This was an incredible series. It did a good job grabbing the view’s attention in the beginning, but started off a little rocky. However, this is one series that gets better after each episode. The script is interesting from the start, but it felt like something was missing. This changes by the 5th episode and everything starts to make sense. Some of the characters were unlikable at first, but the script did a great job explaining the reasoning behind their actions. There are also a lot of twists and turns that keep you guessing what is going to happen next. Although there is a slight romance element with some of the characters, it did not overpower the main storyline. The cast was excellent and did a great job with their characters. This also did a great job with the cinematography, special effects, and make-up.

Random Note:

There is a possible hint of a second season because the last two scenes can be interpreted as a cliffhanger. If this is the case, I can’t wait to watch it.

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Enjoyable but disconcerting.

There's a lot to enjoy about this drama - so far only half the episodes have been released on Netflix. Both leads play their roles well, especially ML is compelling. FL is less compelling, especially in beginning episodes she just didn't look that terrified at being kidnapped - but playing the quietly submissive person who pleases everyone to survive - that was convincing - having large doe eyes helps, and there is a warmth to her role that draws you in. The chemistry between the pair is great, of course, it helps they're both good to look at. The age gap between the leads is a little distracting, as they are supposed to be similar in age, but they're both too cute together for me to be bothered that much. It kind of suits the drama that he looks quite a bit older as he is quite dominating and paternalistic.

There are quite a few times where we have to suspend judgement - especially around the FL being a sign language interpreter. As a person who cannot speak, she can only interpret one way - and yet there are many situations when two way interpreting is required, so another interpreter is bought along to support her. It's also odd that she signs to the British ambassador's wife in Korean sign language as the two sign languages are not mutually intelligible. Kudos to the actress though, she did look comfortable signing and learning those sequences would not have been easy. I use sign as a second language, so it's comforting for me to see sign language taking a central role in a drama.

As in many Korean dramas, the inequality of the sexes in terms of influence and power stands out starkly to an outside observer. Often older women are portrayed as malicious and vain, and you wonder if that's because it's the only way they ever get to exert any influence. This particular dynamic is on clear display in this drama, and although it's there to add tension and not to make any kind of social commentary, it's such a force in this show that it's hard to ignore.

I am often struck too by how often the male lead tells the female lead to stand up for herself and in the next breath he orders her around under the guise that she doesn't know how to take care of herself. It seems like this is all the usual romantic trope of the powerful and commanding male lead and on screen it works a charm, but in real life it would be regarded as toxic masculinity.

So I find myself regularly suspending judgement and going a long for the ride. It's an enjoyable ride, as long as you don't think about it too much.

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Cute and funny romcom with a great cast and no major flaw

I enjoyed watching this drama very much. If you look for anything unique, don't watch this drama, it looks a lot like a lot of other romcoms from that era, but I didn't watch this drama for anything but a lighthearted romcom and I was overall satisfied. It has a very happy ending as well, which I honestly expected because most romcoms have happy endings.

The plot is pretty simple and straightforward. It's just about 4 childhood friends and their relationships (friendships, romance, family...), their goals and aspirations in life and how they accomplish them. Both the romance and comedy aspects of the drama were great, it was a sweet and fun drama. It was especially good in the first half of the drama but in the second half I felt that the pace was a bit slow and the story wasn't as interesting. Nothing serious but it's what I noticed. Also I wish we witnessed a bit more of the FL's career growth a bit more. I also can't get over the fact that she was always watching TV for her role model news anchor for so long but throwed away her dreams for another job just because the ML told her he thinks she's better fit for another job... Also wish there was bit more aegyo from the FL because it was the reason I got into this drama in the first place and it was adorable and funny. To be honest there wasn't that many flaws except a medium sized one is that the plot is a bit too simple.

As for the acting, it was very good, especially the main leads. They picked the right actors. I liked the main leads' chemistry but I feel like the second lead couple was even better. They also worked on the issues of their relationship quite well (even though it took a while) because I was kinda frustrated with the 2ML's behavior. The other supporting roles were good and I appreciated how the problematic ones like Park Hyeran and Jang Yejin got on good terms with the main leads even if it's not always realistic though I'm not watching a drama for realism.

The OSTs are good and exciting. It gets you on the romcom mood well. No bad OST.

I would watch it again if I had a lot of time and if I was a beginner Kdrama fan, because at that time I had lower standards for rewatching dramas and now I'm focused on finishing the other dramas I'm watching. But it was good, it's just that I don't see the point in rewatching the drama, when I could just rewatch a few scenes.

I don't have any very bad criticisms to say. There were a few minor flaws but overall it was a very enjoyable watch. I recommand this drama.

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Choices

This is essentially a story about choices and consciousness.

A slightly different less dramatic more realistic portrayal of the path towards fatherhood, where does the sea begin, when does fatherhood begin and what is the right thing to do?

A display of choices, some tougher than others, as life is indeed complicated. Self sacrifice vs. compromise and at the end of the day what is truly best for the child?

While the drama does have some moments that have me questioning the agenda of the drama, some moments pf cringe,, as well as some small issues here and there, the over all feel to this drama is that it is a good story and pretty much as far from mainstream storytelling as it gets. A story that considers several voices, angels and truly digs deep in to the concept of parenthood and the right to choose. Well portrayed, well casted the type of story that will have you feel stuff, click on that next episode button and wish them all the best.

Making me accept the parts that had me wondering as a portrayal of life..

There are few drmas with as many self aware, lovely characters in this are lovely, especially the fathers (even the so called bad fathers) and the kid.

A drama that is defiantly worth more attention, and worthy of any slice of life drama lovers time.

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Disappointing

This drama had the potential to be a thrilling romance story but it totally failed. I really enjoy the arranged marriage and secret identity tropes but I can't get past how boring and full of cliches this drama is. I don't like how the FL seems so incompetent too. I don't want to sound too mean and I did enjoy the casting of this drama but there's many things that could have been better.

What I'm truly disappointed about is the disability representation. I can see how they wanted to be all progressive by using sign language, deafness and mutism as part of the plot but it didn't work out how they intended.

Some spoilers ahead:

It's so boring how the ML is supposedly in love with a woman that uses sign language but doesn't even bother to learn it during the first years of their marriage. (I hope the upcoming episodes prove me wrong) And when he does show the smallest effort to learn it they try to make it seem like something great when in reality it's normal to learn your partner's language. The couple does not really even communicate until the FL starts talking which makes it seem like sign language is not a proper and functional language like any others. Their relationship sparks off after they can talk by using words..

Then the selective mutism. These characters do not understand what selective mutism is. While that is the reality for the people who really have it, this drama does not point it out at all or try to explain what selective mutism is to the viewers. The ML does not understand this condition and tries to coax the FL into speaking which pisses me off.

The bad guy's evilness is of course shown with his tic disorder and heterochromia. Really? In a drama that's supposed to be progressive about these things you use them to make someone seem off putting and weird.. How original. These different disabilies are constantly shown as something negative and I'm done with it.

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Big Disappointment*

*I finished the 6th episode and the huge disappointment is that it ended so soon. If ever I appreciated the Korean tendency for 16 full hour episodes it's this one. The closing scene left open a sequel, but I really wanted to binge another 10 hours now.

The show is 'quirky' meaning you're going to love it, or hate it depending on your susceptibility to this particular brand of quirk and you'll know before the end of first episode whether it's for you or not.

Only six episodes are promised, so the hope is there will be more.

Bae Doo Na effortlessly does meek and menacing and comedic.

Lee Su Hyun is great in her first outing.

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Very solid adaptation

I liked this version of LITA a lot, and thought the production made really smart choices in condensing the story down to half its runtime. It stayed true to the original story while moving through the important beats with no filler, and some of the choices actually improved upon the Thai version. In particular, I really like the way they resequenced the final conflicts to converge at the end. The cast was all great and I liked both couples a lot. I prefer this version of Fuma and Kai in particular, the tweaks they made to their characterizations and the details of Kai's story made it all land better for me. The whole cast is great and I hope to see them in more shows.

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Love is Love

As a bl lover I am also a boy who has feelings towards men in BL dramas but I am still a Asian teenager

I wish I would find my love in a such a coincidence expressed in this drama
these dramas makes me swim with butterflies
love it ..

so at the end there are few days for the end of the year 2024 cause today is Dec 21.the time that I writing now is 23.25pm Good Bye 2024 🥺 which is the year that teached me good lessons and gave me chances by separating me from bad people
For those who reads this comment type the date and time that u are reading my review.
Good night

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Out Of The Chrysalis ➰️ Into Self Awareness ➰️ An Art School Fable About Taking Wing VG 7.6

Right from the start I'm thinking:
"Yo! Oh NO! Women and girls don't need to be watching this!"

This story follows the lives of art students, particularly Nabi's group of friends. Though the focus is on their love lives, the stresses of classes, projects, competitions, and future plans factor heavily in the story. The protagonist is Yu Nabi, a beautiful and talented but resigned, student.

The show starts with her painful break-up. She is then quickly seduced by the powerfully sexual Park Jae-eon (Song Kang from Sweet Home-8.5 & Navillera), who is a notorious womanizer. They couldn't be more different, except for the "road closure" signs on the way to their hearts. She starts a physical relationship with him but continually doubts him. He never asked for more anyway. This type of dude is not good in real life. Users like this tend to be on the sociopathic scale. Naive girls will think the can change him, that they'll succeed where other women have failed. It won't work, girls. You will get your heart shredded.

"It's making me so uncomfortable," was my thought, from EP 2 through midway when there was a plot shift. At the same time, I was also thinking that the director & actors handled the seduction scenes well. They are as steamy as the kitchen in a noodle restaurant. Nabi moves on to other guys. She has no shortage of admirers herself. These relationships may make her more at ease, but there are clearly no sparks, such as the ones Jae-eon ejects when he's performing his craft.

My method is: No reviews without watching the entire show, intolerable pain being the exception. If I had broken it off with Nevertheless in the early episodes, which I was not enjoying, I would've had a much different opinion than I now do after watching every frame. A solid 25% (it seems) of the early episodes consists of Nabi staring with an emptiness that showcases how a hammer shattered her fragile shell. Her emotional core is pulverized. She's struggling with school. Nothing is going right. She's shut down.

Nabi brightens up in the very last scene, when she settles on the next step in the direction of her future. She smiles radiantly, her voice lifts an octave or so, her words suddenly flow with ease: She's confident. There was so much transformation in that last smiling sentence that it was breathtaking.

The director, Kim Ga Ram (Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency -7.4), created her own piece of art in this series. This is Kim Ga-ram's third effort. All three are rated solidly with an increase in the IMDB rating for each one. We should be looking forward to more excellent offerings from Ms Kim. Screenwriter, Jung Won, is just getting started.

Not only was Nabi's transformation handled aptly, but there are many scenes that are excellent, with imagery and metaphors noticeable in the first watch. (Another go-through would only reveal more.) In Ep9, for example, Do-hyeuk gives Nabi an umbrella. He told her it will rain. He has an extra umbrella. Cut to Jae-eon who looks out at the deluge, umbrellaless. Do-hyeuk was prepared for heartache. He had braced himself. He was ready for rain. Heartache snuck up on Jae-eon. He never saw it coming. Several others in the extended group, who had been longstanding friends, also pair up. Their romances were all done well.

Adorned with a butterfly tattoo on the back of his neck, Jae-eon claims it means: The ugliness & pain of happiness & a lack of freedom. While Jae-eon has looks, money, talent, and popularity, which are all things that people believe will make them happy, he's not happy. He's lived free with many women, which left him not free to pursue a meaningful relationship. It's obvious that Jae-eon's dingy apartment -it's almost grayscale- is emblematic of his closed off heart. "Nabi" means butterfly. Nabi emerges from her chrysalis at the end of the show. That emergence had nothing to do with a man. The criticism of Nevertheless promoting toxic relationships is not fair. Nabi's confidence, in the end, was from, by, and through HER, not anyone else. This show is a cocoon that yields it's beauty right on time.

The sculpture on which Nabi labours for the entire semester appears lackluster, just as Nabi does. She takes a step toward joining society by finally taking on assistants. The reveal for finished works will be the end of semester art show. What's on display is Nabi herself. Nabi's piece has taken up wings to fly. The process and the show are the stages of a butterfly. The matured Nabi powers through her entrapments in full stained glass splendor. She might as well fuse with her sun-catcher and bracelet.

This is a well-crafted show. I would give it a rating of around 7.6, but it doesn't rise to the level of a solid 8. The director will likely be there with her next effort. Nevertheless, this series is well worth watching. It's not like the 3' deep cutesy romances. The director has crafted something more complex. In fact, I would classify this as a drama about self-awareness and self-liberation first, and a romance second.


QUOTE📢

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne~


〰🖍 IMHO

🎬8 🤔6 🎭8 💓6 🦋8 ⚡1

Age 15+

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Modern Day:
A Witch's Love 7.8;
Love to Hate You 8.9;
Oh My Ghost 10;
Our Blues 8.7 - ensemble piece;
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9;
Love Struck in the City 7.3;
Hospital Playlist 9;
My Mister 9.5;
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9;


Action/Sci-fi/fantasy:
Signal 8.6;
The Cursed 8.3;
Flower of Evil 8.9;
The Man from Nowhere 8.9;
Black 9;
Squid Game 8.4;


Romance junkies only:
My Secret Romance 7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks);
Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max;
The Bride of Habaek 7;
Heirs 7.3;
That Winter, The Wind Blows7
Something in the Rain 9

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