Reviews

What was this??

Oh My God… here we go.

I have watched probably most Kdramas in which Kim Ji Eun starred lately, if not all. And I must say this one is a disaster. This was worse than ‘One Dollar Lawyer’.

There’s so much wrong with this that I don’t even know where to begin from? Let’s start from the Plot? If this even had one.

If you have watched any medical Kdramas 2015 onwards you can guess the plot of this drama right from the very beginning. And I mean it. I guessed the plot in episode 1. Watching episode 2 just solidified my theory and the remaining episodes were pure torture.

Now you might be thinking, if it was so bad why the heck did you not drop it? Well, 2023 was a bad year for crime-thriller so I was making do with whatever crumbs I could find, okay? lol

The ML… was he so annoying because his character was written like that or was it because the actor didn’t do a good job?? I have never watched any other project from this actor before so I’ll cut him some slack and pretend that it was just bad writing at play. It does have lots of issues when it comes to writing.

His character was the ML but trust me if you remove his character from the storyline it won’t leave an impact at all. That’s how useless he was. All he ever did was shout, act like a brat and beat people up for no reason. I know he’s supposed to be the countryside one but c’mon… wth?? If you compare his character to the ML from “Bad Prosecutor” you’d say D.O probably did a good job there. Both characters are supposed to be typical Kdrama-ish bratty, hot headed, annoying characters but the way the screenwriter in “Bad Prosecutor” handled the storyline and character development, it made it bearable. While this was just utter nonsense.

Coming to his family, his brother was probably an Angel and I’m sorry I just don’t buy how someone can be so nice. Their mom was horrendous ? not just her, the friend and their so called polygamous relationship with the doctor guy was so uncomfortable to watch. Why did they even feel the need to include that?? Whyy??

The countryside scenes were unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the progression of the storyline. Instead of adding those scenes they could have easily skipped those and made this a 10-12 eps drama. (which is still too much considering the plot).

The Fl… *sigh* Good Lord. She was just there. Existing. Her character wasn’t too unbearable but it wasn’t something extraordinary either. You could easily forget about her. But she’s smart, which our ML isn’t.

The other characters were very stereotypical. Talking about stereotypes, wth was that Arab representation?? I’m not Arab but I am Muslim and although the writer did explain our faith. They did not do a good job. Kdrama writers should stay away from religions. Please I beg you.

The episode where the FL and her coworker gets kidnapped was so unnecessary. This drama dragged on for eternity. Once you figure out the plot in ep 2, there’s nothing left to watch (unless you want to see justice being done… which we didn’t see much of in this drama).

The plot twists weren’t even plot twists because you can guess what’s about to happen… *sigh* why am I still typing this review? guess I’m just very annoyed..


I can go on and on about the plot holes and bad writing. But as a writer there’s one thing I must say, whenever you’re writing a character please give them backstory. No matter how minor of a character it is, give them a backstory. Add their traumas, the scars they carry within and how the lessons they’ve learned shapes their perspective and outlook on life in general. It’s very important or else your character will come off as bland and dull.


PS: why can’t I keep the rewatch value 0? This app really expects me to give this a 1 star rewatch value? It’s too much.

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An Interesting Watch

I was keeping up with this drama’s updates since it was announced. I kinda wanted to read the original Manhwa but then I thought otherwise because I didn’t want to spoil anything for myself.

The first half is interesting to say the least. There’s lots of characters, we see a bunch of side stories and the the cat and mouse game begins. But right after that it almost felt like they were just dragging the storyline a bit too much. The underage characters annoyed me so much to the point I went through the comments to check if anyone else was finding them annoying. Lo and Behold, some people did.

I really wanted to see character development for some characters especially Mu Chan. Man it hurts so much to see him being the way he is ? even in the end. If I were to say the ending just brings us back to square one then it wouldn’t be an understatement. We basically end up at a dead end. Unless they’re planning a s2, it was a very half assed ending in my opinion.

Coming back to the characters, Kim Mu Chan my boy you let me down. The FL was okayish. The professor’s character was good and my favourite has to be the teacher guy (don’t mind me I finished watching this like a month ago so I cannot remember their names)

I shipped the main protagonists ? and loved their banters in the beginning. When she goes to his house, how he experience a “nightmare”, when she picks up a gun and decides to shoot the villain guy. I really wished they had more moments together because in the later half they started acting like strangers. All that chemistry just for them to be estranged? tsk tsk

Now the plot. I hate how Korean cyber unit couldn’t trace the IP address for the life of them. The whole steaming thing was very unrealistic but I get it, it’s fiction. I let it slide but still it was just hard to swallow.

The character motivations often didn’t align with their personalities. I hate how they killed that ONE character in the end. It was so unnecessary. (unless they’re planning on playing a trick on us??)

Where’s the backstory for our protagonists?? Kim Mu Chan lost his mother but what happened next?? What’s the story behind the FL’s scar? Why do we never find any closure for their traumas? Maybe they’re planning all of that for S2. ??‍♀️

But this Kdrama did bring me out of my Kdrama slump. I feel like 2023 was a bad year for crime-thriller genre. This was a good addition to it and a good way to end such a terrible year.

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A Familiar Revenge Story BUT with a ML Character has split personality disorder

From Enemies to Empathy/understanding to Lovers, this story still has interesting enough, there's a lot of kdrama/cdrama similar but this one quite lacks the acting ability, and another problem is the film's camera angles and shots, why does the camera shake and waggle in many scenes make the experience very uncomfortable.

The plot is quite predictable, and the chemistry is 'uhhh', it's hard to say, maybe because the acting of FL makes me so frustrated and bored. Her eyes are so bland and flat, she plays an assassin character but with naive and sleepy eyes????, also her line is so bad...

The ML's story is quite interesting to me, his acting is good and he used to be an idol before, I think he is trying hard and putting effort into this, so he can capture and embody the character so well.

In conclusion, this drama is worth watching because of ML's story.
=> I dropped this after watching ep 3, I find it hard to watch, the acting, the camera works, and the way they portray the story are all so boring to me.

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Amazing Show, Took me by Surpise with the Tone shift--Highly Recommend

Wow I just finished this show and it was very well done, I'm quite surprised I haven't heard of this show before. If you're someone who hates slow-paced dramas and instead wants action, friendship, and deep topics then this show is perfect. With only 6 episodes, it gets right to the point and develops the characters so well, making the story gripping with each episode.

As we know, Korea has a severe issue with bullying, with scales of bullying that aren't really seen here in the West (bullying becoming torture) and it always shocks me to my core when I see how severe bullying can get, this drama sheds light on bullying in the mandatory military enlistment. So many of the deserters, the Koreans who run away from their military service but are forced to come back, are victims of severe bullying. However, they are treated like predators, when in reality they are the victims running away to save themselves from the torture they face in the military. The drama shines a light on how, especially in Korean society, the bullies are put at an advantage and the victims are villainized. What change can happen, when the system itself ignores and favours bullies? If bullies are seen as 'strong' and the victims are blamed for being too 'weak' to deal with their issues, then change can't occur. It's a sad truth, but the cycle of oppression for bullying victims is too true of a reality.

I loved the ending, despite how sad it was, because it really enhances the theme and struggles that victims face. Their lives are ruined to the point that death is a better option for them, how can they live when they now have to deal with this trauma while also watching their bullies live their lives without any care or consequences? It's a hard drama to watch, but one that gives such an important message to viewers. Unfortunately, change never occurs until someone loses their life, and even then it's sometimes not enough.

What I liked about the show was the writing and how the writers were able to shift tones so smoothly, it would go from serious to lighthearted naturally and it made the show more digestible. The bromance between the main characters was perfect, and both Jun-ho and Ho-yol were perfect to be D.P. soldiers because of their humanity and empathy.

Overall this is a hard show to stomach, with its graphic and violent bullying, but the message is very well executed and overall the show was wonderfully done.

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Between Virtual Reality and Real World

This Sci-Fi Chinese drama is a rare one. Keep in mind this is not a drama for everyone.
However try watching it before reading the reviews (as I did).

I rarely review chinese drama but here we go.

First of all... the story. It may seems like a virtual reality world kind of drama but as the story grows, it gradually become a story about altered memory. The writer guided us from the start as if Jiang Xiao Yuan (JXY) traveled through time from 2025 back to 2018 where she met Qi Lian (QL). Whilst QL took her as his old love interest but JXY had no memory of it thinking she occupied his old lover's body. They went through a love-hate relationships throughout the story to find the truth and tried to find ways for JXY to go back to her original world. They clearly were attracted to each other but their pride got in the way. If you are looking for a romantic genre, this is not one. So don't get your hopes on high on this. There's some light romance story but that's it.

However, there was a plot twist towards the end (writer took us on a roller coaster ride) where both JXY and QL found that there was no time travel or other parallel world. It was actually an altered memory where JXY joined as trial experiment participant (Lighthouse system) to earn money for her grandma's medication. It turns out that QL was also one of the earliest participant of the Lighthouse system owned by the original creator (Noah aka Xu Jing Yang-XJY).
JXY altered memory experiment was done by Fan Xiao Xiao (FXX) who stole the whole experiment from Noah, as FXX did not have all the data (and apparently Noah installed a pre warning to QL if his experiment is being used), JXY altered memory showed some problems. Whilst QL was a success story, FXX was not (she experienced some setbacks after the experiment hence she stole the whole thing to make things right).

After the whole roller coaster ride story of both QL & JXY life, they eventually got together and be honest to each other.
Along the way come this new character, Jiang Bo (JB) as the adopted son of FXX and serve as bff for both JXY & QL. He was used and abused by his adopted mother FXX so severely that he kinda lost hope in life but JXY made a great impact in his life that he pull himself together and start living life the way he want it.
In the end FXX was defeated and captured and JXY, QL and JB did live a happy life in the end.

Okay, story wise it may seems boring at first and some parts of it (especially about the make up thingy, salon thingy) but overall the mystery surrounding Lighthouse System and whether XJY did exist as a person or not were intriguing enough for me to keep following the drama from start to end. It did give us a satisfactory ending and would love to see more romance but as the genre it is, I'm satisfied it is. (A follow up wedding of JXY & QL would be nice though).

Lin Yi as an actor always delivered his acting excellently. No doubt he is not just a handsome one but great in acting as well. All his facial expression clearly shown throughout his acting. Love seeing him taking different roles in acting (not just romance genre all the time). Will definitely looking forward for his next projects.

Liu Hao Cun is considered newbie in acting world but her acting amazed me. Then I found out that she was handpicked by the renowned directy Zhang Yi Mou, no wonder she was really good. Her height difference with Lin Yi was really cute and they made a great couple. Looking at some BTS in the drama, shes actually really cute and playful. I know there's a lot of negative comments about her acting but for me, I watched her first before I read so it didn't really bothered me as for me her acting was on point.

All of the other actors were really great too and funny at times. I really like the actor playing Jiang Bo as not only handsome but did great too. Also the one playing Cheng Fang Zhou, he was really funny and loyal throughout the series. I really despise the character of Fan Xiao Xiao (the actress did really good though) to the point that I hate seeing her when she came out in the series (haha). So in my opinion all of the actors did well.

Overall, it was a great drama and I rarely find a sci fi chinese drama really good like this that kept me on edge when watching it. Dramas that made you wait for 1-2 eps everyday and watching in patiently must be really good or interesting.
So don't hesitate and start watching it especially if you really like sci-fi drama like this. I will definitely re-watch it again sometimes later.
I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do. Enjoy ^^

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Story about strong women

This drama is one of the favorites that I've watched this year (2023). I enjoy watching slice of life drama and especially one that deals with real and difficult issues. This drama is one that deals with real life issues such as infidelity, divorce, workplace and business competition. The characters feel real and the actors played them really well. The three main female characters are all strong women, but I particularly like Gu Jia. She's the strongest of them all I think.

SPOILER ALERT!
Throughout the drama you get to see character developments for the main characters. Zhong Xiao Qin started out as a dependent and rather spoiled, a people pleaser that cannot survive on her own. She always has her parents and her husband to guide her through life. But she became a strong women after the divorce and can stand up for herself. Wang Man Ni's character development is not too significant in my opinion. She is already a strong, independent woman and she's my least favorite character. Gu Jia, now she is my favorite. I love her character. She can be soft but strong at the same time. In the beginning, I thought she's just a boring upper middle income housewife with a kid and adoring husband. But as you progressed, you get to see that she's actually the one that works hard for her family and she's one that will not hesitate to give the harsh truth to the friends to get them to wake up and move on from the problems. I like her! I thought she's the one that has it all and will have the happy ending. But her life was turned upside down when a home-wrecker chased her husband. But, She handled the husband's infidelity in an elegant way. She is the strongest of them all.

I like to see the friendship between these three women. And it's also interesting to see how life in a big city like Shanghai is. The struggles that you have to endure to live in Shanghai (there's a part of the story where Man Ni returns to her hometown and there, everybody is friendly and know everybody and always ready with a helping hand, a contrast with life in Shanghai).

There is a silent family at the end of each episode that I also like. I think the main idea of this family is to show that it's simple life that brings happiness and wealth and more money comes with its problems.

I think this drama is excellent and would definitely recommend it if you like slice of life stories.

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Going down roofie road.

After binging this drama in the span of less than a week. I have to make a formal apology to "From Now on Showtime!" because this show is basically the same thing but like wayyy worse in every aspect.

Its boring, predictable and cliché. The stalker serial killer, the b*tchy 2nd FML, the second lead not liking her until he's got competition... All of it made me wanna hurl. The show not being able to remember it's own lore about magic.

I don't mind dramas being commercials... But I still wanna be told a good story. I was totally on board for this show until the 5th episode? Once he drank that DAMN love potion it was OVER for me! Such a dumb decision! Speaking of dumb things.

I could not bring myself to believe that a woman willingly wrote this. Every single female character with 1 exception (and no, its not the FL) is a joke. An actual joke. The FL's only characteristics are her being "nice" and liking hot guys. Aside from her dad dying thats all we know about her. Everything else circles back to those two things. Oh? she's hardworking? YEA cuz she's "nice". Oh she's making dumb magical decisions? YEA it's cuz she likes hot guys. The script has her isolated from other people without really giving a valid reason. If she's so nice why does she get bullied and isolated everywhere she goes… I know it's Korean fiction but there's gotta be a reason for her lack of human connections. Even the biggest b*tches I know have a couple f*ckin friends??? (its me, I'm b*tches) Her superiors and coworkers are all disgusting shallow people who walk all over her, take advantage and so on. DESPITE THAT! The FL still wants to be friends with them?

LADY PLEASE have some respect for yourself.

I really dislike when women in dramas can only think of men... you don't have any hopes? Dreams? Goals? Hobbies? The coworkers and 2nd FL have lives that only revolve around the males they drool over... So pathetic. Also the 2nd FL is a freaking delusional hypocrite that honestly made me head cannon that she was a stand in for someone that actually bullied the writer in real life, that way she can feel like she punished her bully through the show… All of this seems like bad fan fiction. The Mary Sue FL, the lack of romantic tension, and the one dimensional 2nd FL… it all reeks.

The male characters are basically pieces of paper. I don't know why the ML ended up liking the FL? He was so rude to her and then BOOM the worst decision of the show comes and all of a sudden he's all about her… The 2ND ML seemed like he might have something relatable and interesting going on… but it doesn't get enough development and he too also starts liking the FL for shallow reasons… I have nothing to say about either of the villains… Both were so boring. The mayor man…. allows his uneducated daughter to make political decisions for him because she's angry… What a whack politician…

The biggest issue is the FL making the conscious decision to trick a man into drinking a love potion that would FORCE that man to love her. This action is the biggest issue for me... Is her life so bad that she needs to essentially magically roofie a man? She's that desperate for love??? WHY??? So cuz her dad died she has the right to force men into a relationship even after being PREVIOUSLY REJECTED BY THE SAME MAN? I just can't wrap my head around this creative decision.... THIS and everything that results from it are tainted. If she gets into a relationship with that guy… then everything that takes place is r*pe… I don't understand how the writers missed that… The drama doesn't really make any effort to condemn her actions either, instead it's used as a comedic trampoline… All kinds of shenanigans take place after that…

The cinematography, music, and acting were all fine I guess.

I can confidently say this was my worst drama of 2023… too much of it rubbed me the wrong way. I would gladly watch King The Land 20x times more than ever watch this again. Just awful.

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Cringey

I was cringey so hard at some scenes especially the crying ones. The storyline was also pretty plain and predictable. I’m so bored of the storylines where they break up with their partner cause it’s “dangerous”. Even if it was a plot like this make it more interesting at least. The random quitting and going back caught me off guard. While guy was hanging out with wal acting all fine and then starting crying about it I was so confused. Wal was also such a bad person and then turned around to be “caring” all of a sudden. their chemi wasn’t the best either. I don’t get the random scenes and I think this drama was just a flop.

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Those manga characters (exactly as David compared it in the previous review) that were invented by Japanese women still look really weird to me, because their horrible hairdos make both the main actors, aged 18 and 22, look like thirteen-year-old hermaphrodites, or at best, so that they would rather go to the bathroom to make sure they are a boy or a girl. And when the Amagi opened its wide mouth with huge teeth from ear to ear in the close-up, I was afraid that the head of the praying mantis wanted to eat me. And now seriously. As it is almost unnatural, I actually enjoy it on the other hand. From that point of view, it was a gentle, sweet series, well-acted in its Japanese way with a straightforward story. Anyone who knows Japanese will relax with it or even smile in some scenes.

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"todos merecem um romance" (e os tutoryim merecem um BL melhor)

? história: o plot deseja passar a ideia de que o amor independe da maneira que um indivíduo é taxado socialmente, desde "desinteressante" a "esquisito", tendo como exemplar, jade, um homem de 28 anos com conduta extremamente infantil e imatura, o qual possui dificuldades em expressar e aceitar sentimentos, sejam próprios ou externos. mai, por outrora, é seu estagiário, a quem sempre lhe foi imposta a pressão de ser um homem "perfeito", sendo este o par romântico de jade.

os problemas dão início assim que a série abre diversas lacunas para, no final, corrê-las em meio a 8 episódios, que por sua vez, possuem diversas cenas sem agregamento com intuito humorístico, mas que somente geram uma enorme vergonha alheia vinda totalmente por parte das atitudes de jade.

assistir esse lakorn foi como aguentar uniformemente a vergonha dos episódios, para chegar no penúltimo e soltarem toda a carga com a famigerada "forte vontade de dropar" nos meus braços, junto a um drama sem sentido*, para aliviar no último episódio, com cenas fofas dos protagonistas, já como casal, e um leve amadurecimento no jade, na segunda metade do mesmo episódio (8)

sobre o "drama sem sentido", este deu a impressão de ter sido feito como qualquer clichê de romance pré adolescente, tirando o fato dos dois protagonistas terem até 28 anos de idade, sobretudo, sendo um casal homossexual dentro de uma empresa. é sem nexo quando aplicado à realidade, e poderia ter sido abordado diversos temas que preferiram somente irrelevar. porém esse é o ponto mais compreensível até então, por se tratar de um "lakorn de comédia" e irrealista.

por último, a indecisão de público alvo em faixa etária. algo comum que eu vejo acontecer em lakorns são temas tão simples sobre relacionamento e maturidade sendo tratados como tentativas de "lições de moral", nos causando a impressão de que é voltado para um público muito jovem que ainda tem dificuldade em compreender a dinâmica de relacionamentos e os sentimentos envolvidos, os quais estão embarcando nesse meio que é a adolescência. porém, logo em seguida, nos é mostrado cenas mais íntimas entre os protagonistas, trocando totalmente o foco juvenil para um público mais maduro, sem manter uma estabilidade de roteiro, ou falhando seriamente em tentar deixar lições de vidas implícitas de maneira mais sútil e "adulta".

? personagens: não me agradou a maneira que o personagem de jade foi construído, nos apresentando claros problemas de socialização, compreensão de sentimentos, autoestima, maturidade, comportamento, além de espécimes de "traumas" gerados pelo seu primeiro relacionamento, que por sua vez tenta justificar alguma de suas atitudes, sem buscar tratar de nenhum deles, ou sequer explorar o seu crescimento como indivíduo. o único feito de jade durante a série, que poderia acarretar em uma "melhora" em alguns de seus problemas, foi namorar e se abrir com o mai.

gus e tong foram um dos pontos positivos desse lakorn, possuindo um desenvolvimento decente para a quantidade de episódios, cativando o espectador sem ultrapassar o tempo de tela e profundidade do casal principal.

uea e king, por já terem tido seu desenvolvimento em "bed friend", cumpriram o papel de mentorear jade e mai em diversas questões sobre relacionamento. vale ressaltar que a maturidade de uea me impressionou, em meio a tanta dor de cabeça que eu estava passando devido ao jade.

? atuação: conheci o yim (jade) e o tutor (mai) por cutie pie, e desde então eu venho vendo um enorme potencial neles, o que não me decepcionou nessa série. a atuação de ambos foi ótima, e creio que eles se sairiam perfeitamente protagonizando um BL com a proposta mais séria. sobre o james (uea) e o net (king) eu não tenho nadica a reclamar, adoro o trabalho deles. e por último, fiquei feliz em conhecer o trabalho dos atores que fizeram os papéis do gus e tong (tai e leo), espero vê-los atuando juntos novamente!

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Sweet & Lovely Drama

This drama was so beautiful and sweet, like balm to the soul. It's is such a sweet, precious story that unfolds slowly without much angst.

Beautifully written and acted with a fascinating story, breathtaking scenery, elegant costumes, and gorgeous music. I'm in tears because it's over and I miss the characters already. I wish I had a friend group like this.

The pacing was slow and gentle, but if you have patience it pays off in a satisfying way later on.

This is my first time watching any of these actors or actresses, but I'm definitely looking them up and will gladly watch their other dramas. They are incredibly talented and fun to watch.

It's been a long time since a drama left this big of an impact on me.

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Fire!!!

If a drama manages to evoke a range of emotions within me, it automatically earns a perfect score of 10 in my book. My admiration for actor Song Kang dates back to his performance in Navillera, and in this latest drama, his beauty truly captivates. The on-screen chemistry with actress Kim Yoo Jung adds an extra layer to the narrative.

The fantasy elements, the musical score, and the meticulously designed sets, especially his character's house, contribute to an overall amazing viewing experience. The ability of the drama to make me laugh, cry, and even feel moments of anger is precisely what I appreciate in this genre.

The climax of the story was exceptionally well-executed, leaving me eagerly anticipating a potential part 2. It feels like there's more to unfold, and I genuinely hope the creators consider expanding on this narrative.

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