Reviews

Hooked from the first episode

I'm not one for particularly violent stories. (Honestly, I had to watch some of the recaps ahead of time so I wouldn't be too scared). But this one had me hooked. Woo DoHwan and Lee Sang-Yi are fantastic together. They have the best bromance and they look the part of professional boxers. Serious eye candy, serious laughter, mixed in with a lot of serious parts. There was a little bit of everything except for the usual romance I look for. But that's OK. The action more than makes up for it; everything was choreographed amazingly. You really got sucked in from the first episode to the last.

And yes, I have to admit; I watched the beginning of the finale episode many times.

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Sad but makes sense

Honestly feel like the whole story was well written even with the tragedy at the end. It feels very realistic because they are kids, even if they were pushed into war and grew up, you can't deny that they are still teenagers. So as annoying as all the whining and fighting was, it makes sense. Adults would be just the same, maybe even worse, we saw that during covid. As much as part 2 sucked for my heart I liked that it all ties together, realistically how likely were they all to survive. What really stuck was the ending where CSAT was "back to normal" with the protesters outside and students still taking exams with barely an explanation. That is the most real thing because as much as the adults say they care how the system is, they won't do anything about it. This entire show portrays the failure the adults are to kids, putting them in a war and convincing them that it was normal and proceeding to allow them to continue whilst holding the biggest exam in their lives like a reward in front of them as if they couldn't just die any moment.

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Dissapointed

I'm fresh from the joyous experience that was "The Master's Sun" and the perfection that was Gong Hyo Jin's performance as the woman whose life was derailed once she started seeing dead people. This euphoria needed to be continued, I said. So, without further ado, I jumped on It's Okay, That's Love.

Notwithstanding that it's a completely different story, I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters and that is my baseline when watching these dramas. The writers should at the very least make them likable, especially with a subplot as heavy as mental health and PTSD. Even more so when the leads both have past trauma. All I got from this was an irrational FL with serious anger issues.

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too many sound effects, not enough plot

Overall: thought this was a romcom but episode 3 took quite a turn. I also really disliked the "comedy" sound effects. 8 episodes about 40 minutes each. Aired cut on UltimateTroop Official YouTube channel and uncut on iQIYI (eps 9 and 10 for premium members). Ultimate Troop also produced "Remember Me" and "The Yearbook".

Content Warnings: sexual assault/attempted rape (episode 3 part 2), self harm/attempted suicide (episode 3 part 2), manhandling, mental health struggles, beaten up, violence/punches, bullying, stalking

What I Liked
- Dino's singing and guitar playing sounded realistic
- awesome dance moves
- how the friend pointed out the difficulty of finding someone on a large campus
- happy Rak did something in episode 2 and did stand up for himself
- Mean's cameo in episode 2 with the angelic music was funny
- that they mentioned their series "The Yearbook"
- the idea of filling that jar to give Rak some time to recover (though this idea didn't work out)
- at least there weren't dead fish lip presses*
- Chalam and his eggs/pet snake

Room For Improvement
- that there were no consequences for the absolute despicable thing Mek did in episode 3
- the "comedy" sound effects actually make me NOT laugh, not a fan of toilet humor/conversations
- some scenes dragged on for too long like the scene in episode 3 part 2 and the terrible attempt at a redemption arc with Mek's sister
- strongly disagreed with Mek's sister saying an apology can fix everything, an apology can most definitely NOT fix everything and Mek is now beyond redeemable after episode 3
- Rak went from out of the frying pan and into the fire because Dino did not understand boundaries, "don't take too long to open your heart because I won't wait" and after Rak says for him not to touch him he....touches him...
- it's odd how the show depicted the stalker as bad but Dino did the exact same things (ignored boundaries, aggressive pursuit, extremely possessive)
- *in episode 8 the loud slurping noises not in sync with the movements was bad, plus I like some tongue but it was just too much tongue and licking
- Rak was reluctant even in the last two episodes, wish they had shown him with more agency/initiating physical stuff
- effeminate guy stereotype as hypersexualized
- at times the music was mismatched, there was a more serious scene and it had lighthearted music (hospital scene was a good example of this)
- ep 1 voice over exposition dump
- nonsense things: Rak's friends let him leave the club with some rando, say it's loud at the football field but it's quiet, lights on when sleeping, why did Rak stop running when there was an open doorway there in episode 3, etc.
- last 2 episodes were almost all filler and felt very unnecessary (and a new toxic character "you can't tell me to stop" bleh)

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My school president (not so) short review.

This show is really good. This is the show that got me into Thai BL a few months back and its been great since! This show is about a boy who has a secret crush on another boy and becomes the school president to help his crush.

The first thing is the casting, I felt like the casting was genuinely great and everyone played their characters perfectly there isn't anyone that I would switch out.

Next is probably the acting. The acting was super good and it really includes the viewers in the story.
When they are happy you are happy, when they are sad you are too! And I think that when your feeling is touching the viewers too you're doing a really good job.

Lastly the story. This story is incredibly unique. I haven't seen a story like this before it really touched me and I have rewatched it 10 times since. 10/10 definitely recommend it!!

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One of the most frustrating dramas I have seen

I'm new in kdrama viewer but till now I've completed almost more than 50 dramas but never ever write a review for anyone because just all the drama concept is unique and everyone their own taste.
Something in the rain is kind of drama which is completely wasted in terms of story or dragging. I mean how much you can drag the show ??
The FL is just out of is mind and always go with her mom.
Look at the ML he's always support to FL and return he want just same thing but time to time what she did?
A blind date just for her mom or at the last great she's again relationship with a businessman boyfriend just for her mom.
Is this support do you provide to your partner after all the characters development or 15 episode.
After all this I wish that ML should move on his life because she doesn't deserve him at all ( any romantic series I never want but I told you it's specially garbage for me so I wished this.)
But again writer in last 5 minutes solved everything without show anything lol.

PS: English is not my native language so avoid any grammatical mistakes. THANK YOU ?

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A FAMILIAR SURPRISE!

Rated a 10 entirely based on the way this made me feel, and it was unexpectedly a pleasant surprise! I didn’t expect too much from it but also wondered why it had such a high rating of 9+ on Viki. Thought I’d get it over with watching it in one go with only 8 episodes. To my surprise, I loved it! Although, it was so short, it was cleverly written to tell the story and executed quite well. Most of the time I wonder why these C-dramas are so long, I feel like they have so many clips of reminiscing that become dragged out many times. THIS show was quite simple, to the point, had enough humor added, a tender romance between the leads, even the little kid was adorable, and of course, it had a pretty cool twist the viewer probably wouldn’t think of (that’s what made the ending so good). Kudos to the writers/creators! This was a little gem that made my Top 10 Faves, and made me watch it a second time already (I’m sure it won’t be the last time). Enjoy! ????

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The kids carried the show

Basically this serie revolved around the kids, but the story around them (the origin) never really got explored. Why? No clue, but it makes no sense. Why didnt the writer include it properly? No clue. The part where the kids basically didnt get any screentime felt flat. For me it wasnt because of the quality of the acting from either of FL or ML, it was because of the weird choices made in the screenwriting. The strong beginning of this show is what made it a decent production for me. The middle part felt flat and the ending felt rushed. The love story/part felt as it was a side story to the main story revolving around the kids.

Also a few other questions which didnt get answered in my opion, which shouldve based on the important aspects in the story.
- Why was it FL's dream to design jewelry? No clue
- How did the kids get back to FL and ML, respectively? No clue

The acting of FL and ML did not harm this production, the amount of questions and lack of explanation did that for me. For once I was surprisingly pleased with the quality of the acting of both FL and ML.

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Great drama

I love this drama so much. It begins sadly and it is very melancholic. It develops very slowly, too . Until episodes 7-8, Ha Won ( Jung Hae In ) doesn't even talk to much. Some people think it is very boring show. However, this is not the case. Beautiful story line . Great cinematography. Jung Hae In performs his role as Ha Won brilliantly (as always). He is great actor. And for his acting here I give him 10 stars. Chae So Been performance is just ok, maybe because of the role. Kim Sung Kyu as the pianist is acting great, too. The soundtrack is very nice. This is a drama for true connoisseurs of film art. This drama need more support and recognition. It is really worth to watch. I love it and it is s one of my favorite dramas.

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Go for it

I loved everything about the drama. Its story , its acting ,actors ,their chemistry and songs and the dog . Beautifully executed all the parts of the story . But in real life nobody lucky like her . At last she got what she wanted . 10 years she waited for someone and at last she got him . I decided to watch this drama because of Zhang Ruo Nan ,she is my favourite actor but male leads also very nice . He looked so handsome all the time specially his smile. I became fan of his acting . Through the drama one can understands the hardship and helplessness faced by firefighters.
I also liked Lu Fang Qi's and Zang Qiu's love story. Their love story also had all type of impact emotions ,cuteness and adorable.
Other supporting characters were also good . The one who died at the end made me little bit emotional.
I Want to give big thumbs up to the drama ,it story and the songs.

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Eh

Story: It was really kind of boring. Some things just didn't connect or make sense and I'm not sure if it was the translation or the show itself. I found parts engaging and interesting, but overall I wanted more from this show.

Acting/Casting: Despite the plot lacking the acting and casting were fine. The actor's talent is probably what saved this for me. The only thing I didn't like was the kiss. Some BL shows do a barely touching kiss on the lips, this was one of those shows.

Music: Suitable and enjoyable for the scenes.

Rewatch value: It's worth checking out once since it's so short, but I don't feel I will come back to rewatch it.

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If you care about logic and the pace of events in a drama, DON'T WATCH

If you feel like watching sth fluffy, cute and really short, this drama is a good pick, HOWEVER you need to throw every ounce of logic out of your mind before you start. Usually when I'm in to watch some nonsense romance, I don't expect much, but this one had just too much nonsense going on, had me saying WTF every minute!
The story itself is not bad, it's the execution that failed.

It started off with Anna's backstory, they used one of my most hated clichés about her ex (one that's really frustrating for me), but I instantly fell in love with Anna (I loved both the actress and the character), even though her story was all summed up it didn't feel rushed or bad, and it was the ONLY logical event in the whole series, the job she had fits her mental state and health.
Now the male lead, god he was annoying! How did her get her number and why didn't she block him still baffles me. My impression of his character was so bad that I didn't care about him at all and his character only kept getting worse for me: from an illogical weird backstory, to how it was executed, to him creating trauma and torturing himself (not psychically but mentally) , everything was boring and stupid, I skipped his scenes. What's worse is that it was a story that didn't need much explanation or time, but they dragged it and made it the center of the series, the time invested in his backstory could go to the development of the plot, instead of leaving us with the most rushed love story in Kdrama land. His story summary is a guy with horrible low self-esteem, now good-looking is arrogant and cringe, some of his lines in the drama had me almost dropping the series but kept watching for Anna. He got serious issues with women and confidence. The beauty privilege he had was the worst of all, he invades her personal space, yet it was seen as okay and an honor for her!!

Now back to Anna, no matter how much I loved her, her healing process was the most illogical plot of all, too rushed even for a short series, HOW in the world did she just go out after 2 years with all that comfort and confidence!!!! She was interacting with people as if it was an everyday thing for her, just because she wore a pretty dress and had some makeup on. She wanted to change and be happy, for others instead of herself, that made me sad.
Their love story was really rushed yet acceptable, I hope that now the ML can stop that self torturing vicious cycle and live happily with Anna.

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A well-rounded Family-focused story with murder mystery and time-traveling as the backdrop

Watching “My Perfect Stranger” was an impulsive decision as I needed something different that could be interesting. Upon seeing good reviews, I figured I’ll give it a shot. Mystery, crime investigation and time-traveling are usually NOT my go-to genres, so I am coming in as a casual novice. Romance is my jam. My review is very subjective and might differ from more experienced watchers of these genres.

I am happy to report that I had a very lovely time watching this drama. With the backdrop of time-traveling and crime solving, “My Perfect Stranger” actually has a strong focus on family - discovering, forgiving, healing, reuniting and reconciling. The pace of the drama is consistent and I can’t help but click on the next episode and binge this in less than 3 days.

Our leads were introduced to us as two individuals coming from sad, broken family backgrounds. Through their adventures in 1987, they were able to learn more about their families' pasts and came head-to-head with people that have a negative impact on their present-day lives.

Yoon Hae Joon (ML) and Bae Yoon Young (FL) are both intelligent and kind individuals. They met as strangers but their individual secrets collided and had to work together to solve the murder mystery and save their families. Both leads are very likable characters and it’s easy to root for them. Actually, most of the characters are lovely. The annoying ‘villains’ are not that bad.

There are many heartwarming moments between Yoon Young (FL) and her mother Lee Soon Ae in 1987. It’s nice to see their blossoming friendship. Yoon Young also has quite an interesting and fun dynamic with her 1987 father. The drama does bring out different emotions in me - happy, sad, and touching. However, compared to other dramas I’ve watched, the emotional ups and downs are only on an average level. Maybe that’s why I didn’t give this a 9.0 rating. Just missing that strong emotional impact for me personally.

The suspense of the murderer is done quite well. At least from my very novice mind, I had a hard time guessing who the real murderer was. It really comes down to the wire by the process of elimination in a way (and I still couldn't guess it right). Smarter and more experienced viewers probably could guess it sooner. There are minor plot holes that I think are hard to avoid when you are telling a story about time-traveling. But I don’t think there’s anything too jarring.

There is slight romance for the romance junkies like me. I would say the romance is just enough for this type of drama - a side plot that’s quite predictable. It’s nice, but nothing special. I actually find the romantic chemistry between the leads quite inconsistent. I am not sure if it’s because Kim Dong Wook looks more mature than Jin Ki Joo (and her playing a fake high school student might contribute to my impression of her as well). But in real life, they only have a 5-year age gap. I am not feeling much romantic vibes from Kim Dong Wook. The pair seems more like siblings or good friends. I do enjoy some of the quiet moments they have together, and some fun banter. I like the love confession and think it’s a very lovely way of expressing one’s feelings in the grand scheme of things. It’s just something is missing in the romance department.

However, I did think the acting for both leads is great. I am particularly impressed with Jin Ki Joo. The last drama I saw of hers was “The Secret Life of My Secretary” and I liked her in that as well. She has picked a variety of different roles in her career. She has great sad scenes but also shines in the fun ones, especially with her 1987 father. Kim Dong Wook is a veteran and his acting meets my expectations (sans romantic vibes). The supporting cast also did a pretty good job.

Overall, I recommend this drama to everyone, especially casual crime/mystery watchers like myself. It has a little bit of everything and is a well-rounded drama. But if you want something more intense and nerve-wrecking, then this might not be a good choice.

Completed: 6/25/2023 - Review #321

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